Pupils at a Scottish primary school have helped design a special commemorative banknote for COP26.
The £20 Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) note features a message from the youngsters and the logo of the climate summit that has been taking place in Glasgow over the past fortnight.
Part of RBS’ “Fabric of Nature” series celebrating the nature of Scotland, the face of the banknote has an image of Victorian Glasgow entrepreneur Kate Cranston, with the story of the Scottish red squirrel on the reverse side.
It also bears the word’s “Together for our planet” in the writing of a pupil from Flora Stevenson School, in Edinburgh, which held a handwriting competition as part of a climate project.
Ruth Reed, archives and art Lead at NatWest Group, said: “Over the last 30 years the Royal Bank of Scotland has issued a number of commemorative banknotes, marking big moments or anniversaries in Scotland’s history.
“With Cop26 happening, we absolutely want to continue that tradition with a commemorative banknote.
“This one is really interesting because it will be our first commemorative note printed on a polymer substrate designed collaboratively with the people of Scotland.”
Sonja Brown, headteacher at Flora Stevenson School, added: “It is great that Flora Stevenson has been involved in the design of the commemorative £20 notes.
“Our school supports nearly 700 pupils in Edinburgh and the handwriting competition was a fun way to engage the children in the build up to Cop26.”
RBS, which is a principal partner for COP26, said that during the summit it had been working with schools and children’s groups to help engage youngsters with the climate change challenge.
Around 2,000 schools across the UK have been involved in the bank’s Climate Savers MoneySense programme, focused on what children and families can do to help improve their carbon footprint.
The commemorative banknote is the first to be issued for seven years, following one created to celebrate the arrival of the Ryder Cup at Gleneagles in 2014.
It was produced with the support of note manufacturer DeLaRue, which helped manufacture all of RBS’ polymer substrate notes.