Newtownabbey-based company Environmental Street Furniture is getting ready to attend the hotly anticipated UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow.

The environmental furniture leader will showcase its innovative and sustainable product range at the prestigious event, which runs from 31 October to 12 November.

ESF, which specialises in the supply of street furniture, solar, security and site furnishing products, is one of only 12 UK companies invited to participate within the UK Government outdoor managed spaces, Blue Zone. This comes following the company being awarded the Queen's Award for International Trade in April 2021, for exporting to 27 countries globally.

The annual COP conference will be attended by many world leaders including Her Majesty the Queen, President Joe Biden and Pope Francis, as well as environmental campaigner, Sir David Attenborough, who will come together to accelerate action towards the goals of the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

ESF will be showcasing a selection of its products, including the award-winning Stellar Solar Smart Bench, which offers wireless and wired phone charging, LED lighting and WiFi; all of which are generated from sustainable solar power. The new BriteBin solar powered compacting litter bin, which holds 10 times more litter due to an internal compacting system, will also be on display. The BriteBin offers live IoT reporting to reduce unnecessary journeys to service them.

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In addition to its environmentally friendly range of products, ESF has signed up to the SME Climate Commitment and Road to Zero strategy and has also made a public commitment to become a Net Zero business by 2050.

Speaking about the invitation to participate at the conference, ESF Managing Director, Alan Lowry, said: "Having the opportunity to showcase our product range on the global stage at this year's COP26 is a great honour for ESF. Over the last nine years, ESF has really focused our efforts on making innovative products that are sustainable, use renewable energy and will help to mitigate in some small way, the effects of climate change.         

"We really need global leaders to step up now and agree plans to fight climate change, the biggest threat we are facing. We all have to play our part and ESF is committed to doing this. We will continue to do what we do best, which is create products that will help in this fight. We are looking forward to exhibiting at the conference and seeing the actions that are agreed on and how we move forward."

FSB NI Regional Chair, Brendan Kearney added: "Climate change, and the response to it, will impact us all and will likely be the defining issue of this decade. Northern Ireland SMEs are already leading the way when it comes to changing practices to reduce their carbon footprint, and many are utilising new opportunities - as people look towards a cleaner, greener future. COP26 will be a significant global event and the decisions which emanate from it will have lasting implications. Environmental Street Furniture's presence at the Conference is well deserved recognition for their sustainability and consistent innovation, and serves as a credit to the wider NI small business community."

ESF has worked with many global corporations including Disneyland, Warner Bros and Legoland, and has completed projects at venues including The Coca Cola Arena in Dubai; IMG Worlds of Adventure and Global Village, UAE; Ta Q’ali Craft Village, Malta and Titanic Belfast. The company currently exports to countries including United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong, Kazakhstan, United States of America and Spain.