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Wednesday, January 14, 2026

Industry firms partner to install sunken protest pontoon at COP26

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A sunken protest pontoon has been installed today at COP26 for the Climate Coalition thanks to a partnership between ScaffFloat and scaffolding specialists i-Scaff.

The protest pontoon was erected for press photos this morning (9 November) at the ongoing United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow. Leaders and negotiators from around the world are meeting to discuss making fundamental changes to try to avoid global warming.

Toby Budd, Managing Director at ScaffFloat said: “The pontoon was mobbed at short notice and installed with the help of our local Approved Installer, i-Scaff, who are one of Scotland’s largest independent specialist scaffold contractors.

The duo installed an 8m x 4m scaffold platform that was sunk just below the waters surface, and supported by a set of plastic ScaffFloats on deck. “This gave the impression of a ‘flooded’ floor which the charity utilised for a creative photo showing world leaders meeting on a flooded stage,” Tony said.

Ross Brown, MD at i-Scaff said ”We love helping our customers find innovative solutions to their problems, and this has been a great example of the sort of work we can do. We worked in partnership with the ScaffFloat team who did all the design, project management, RAMS and on water safety, whilst we supplied the scaffold and an experienced scaffolder to help with the build.”

The sunken protest pontoon installed this morning at COP26 in Glasgow.
Image credit: ScaffFloat

Toby added, ”This is such a great example of how we add value. Initially, the client only wanted a floating pontoon with a banner, then we suggested we sink the pontoon to create this great photo opportunity.

We knew the objective was press coverage so worked hard to give them a photo that would get traction in the worlds media – and within an hour it was on BBC News Glasgow Daily Times Sky News to name but a few.”

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