BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — Governor John Bel Edwards will be traveling to Scotland to take part in the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) on behalf of Louisiana.

The conference begins on Oct. 31 through Nov. 4. Edwards and his team will be discussing climate change, clean energy and the creation of sustainable communities.

“No state in our nation is more affected by climate change than Louisiana, but it’s also true that no state is better positioned to be part of the solution to the problems facing our world,” Gov. Edwards said. “In Glasgow, we will have the opportunity to meet people from all over the world, representing different governments, but also corporations and different sectors of the clean energy movement. Make no mistake: an industry-wide transition to cleaner, less environmentally impactful energy production and utilization is going to happen regardless of if Louisiana participates, so it’s best that Louisiana be a leader in this space. For my part, I want world leaders to know that in Louisiana we have the most productive manufacturing workforce in the nation, a workforce that makes essential products that drive the global economy, and a workforce that is ready to make those products but with a greater reduced carbon footprint. This same workforce can build wind farms, run solar projects, drill class six wells, and work at blue hydrogen facilities like the Air Products investment announced last week. We will focus on securing new investments for economic development, job creation and greenhouse gas reductions to navigate through the energy transition and to a better, cleaner future.”

Several weeks ago, Edwards announced that Louisiana had joined the “Race to Zero” campaign. The global campaign is a commitment by thousands of government, higher education institutions and businesses to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Edwards has also recently announced a $4.5 billion clean energy megaproject in Ascension Parish, calling it “the largest permanent carbon dioxide sequestration endeavor to date.” The project is expected to bring in 600 jobs and 2,000 construction jobs within the next three years.

“Louisiana’s geology and existing industry base position us to be a major hub for carbon management projects and activity, and we have been among the leaders in championing initiatives to promote carbon management though Carbon Capture and Sequestration,” said Department of Natural Resources Secretary Tom Harris. “Carbon management is increasingly a simple fact of doing business in the world economy now, and CCS can and should be one of the key tools we use as we transition from the fuels and practices we have known to what comes next.”

Edwards aims to reduce the state’s greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050.

For more about Edwards’s upcoming trip to COP26, click here.