‘All politics is local,’ they say, and never more so than with the climate crisis and COP26 talks.
There are few issues that link world politics and local action more closely.
Lethal bush fires in Australia are bound to transport choices in Forfar.
And worse.
Near unimaginable living conditions in parts of the global south are linked with how someone in Pitlochry powers their central heating.
That is why world climate talks COP26 coming to Scotland for the first time offers a unique opportunity to talk about, and think about, climate issues in a new way.
Questions may remain about the likelihood of world leaders agreeing action that limits warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius.
But the COP26 conference coming to Glasgow has already focused minds across Scotland on climate issues.
Transport, energy, diet are all likely to change in the coming decades as Scottish Government works to deliver its promise to cut carbon emissions to net zero by 2045.
Why are we driving hundreds of miles in an electric van on our COP26 road trip?
But what do people more than 300 miles from Glasgow, in John O’Groats say, think about the world picture?
And how ready are they to make the changes that will be required of them?
We wanted to find out.
So writers from the P&J and The Courier have come together for a COP26 inspired road trip through our respective communities to report on some of most pressing climate stories in our backyards.
But also to find out what people really think about the climate crisis on the eve of the talks.
We hope to learn more about how the climate emergency is shaping our communities.
.@PhilippaGerrard, myself and colleagues are driving an electric van from John o'Groats to Glasgow on a #ClimateRoadTrip ahead of #Cop26, speaking to people and communities along the way about their climate concerns. First stop, John o' Groats! A long road ahead! @pressjournal pic.twitter.com/oyll8PM4ko
— Kieran Beattie (@KNBeattie) October 21, 2021
To find out how the people who read our websites and newspapers feel about the growing emergency.
And to get an inkling on what they would tell the decision makers in Glasgow if they had the chance.
Our journalists will stop in cities, towns and villages in the Highlands, Aberdeenshire, Angus, Dundee, Fife and Perthshire.
Our journalists will be travelling in an electric van provided by community car club Co Wheels.
In that, we will get an inkling of how our electric vehicle infrastructure holds up to that challenge.
But more besides, we will capture a snapshot of the nation as people, readers and families grapple with what is likely to become the defining issue of our times.