A Twickenham resident and academic, Nikita Patel, will co-host an event at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow this week.

The event 'Countdown to Planet Zero: combating climate change with chemistry' is a youth panel which gives the next generation of scientists and inventors an opportunity to showcase their work and its impact on climate change.

The news comes as Richmond Borough Council in partnership with the environmental group Habitats & Heritage will host a series of live and online events across the borough this week.

For example, today the council's waste team and West London Waste will host an online event revealing details of what happens to residents' waste.

Also, The Source Bulk Foods, a local zero waste refill shop in Richmond, will be going live on Instagram to answer your questions on sustainable shopping, bulk foods, and to give a tour of their shop.

You can join local Chef Livio online from Twickenham Italian restaurant, Masaniello, live from the kitchen. He will be showing how to put together two delicious meals from common food waste items.

The Real Junk Food Project Community Café at the ETNA Community Centre, East Twickenham, will be open from 11.30am until 1.30pm. The Project take food that would otherwise be thrown away by supermarkets and turn it into delicious, healthy meals on a 'pay as you feel' basis.

Nikita Patel, aged 25, has lived in TW2 since 1996 and attended Chase Bridge Primary School. She is currently a PhD student at the Centre for Translational Medicine and Therapeutics at Queen Mary University of London.

She said: "I'm really excited to be a part of COP26 which I see as a moment for all of us to get involved – we can all make some simple changes like using public transport or cycling more to create a different path and limit our impact on the climate.

"Whilst these individual steps are necessary and achievable, we must take our personal knowledge and actions to the collective today to change our world's tomorrow. This is what COP26 is about.

"The youth panel event is designed to start to address the significant concerns of the next generation about the planet they will inherit and showcase some of the important work being carried out by our scientists.

"I believe it is important to highlight how fundamental collaboration between industry and academia is to speedily develop solutions for society. By the end of the event, I hope the audience will feel more positive that there is hope in science."

If you are interested in registering to virtually attend the event on Thursday 4 November, 5 to 6pm, please register online.