COP26: Thousands of young people take to Glasgow streets demanding climate action

Although the march was initially organized by Fridays for Future, the youth-driven question inspired by Swedish activistic Greta Thunberg, radical of each ages gathered astatine George Square to request clime action.

From tiny children waving their handmade picket signs, to older adults demanding a amended aboriginal for those that volition travel aft them, the COP26 big metropolis saw national activists successful unprecedented numbers rallying to get their connection heard.

Although the march was initially organized by Fridays for Future, the youth-driven movement inspired by Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, people of all ages gathered astatine George Square to demand climate action. 

From tiny children waving their handmade picket signs, to older adults demanding a amended future for those that volition travel aft them, the COP26 host city saw citizen activists in unprecedented numbers rallying to get their connection heard.  

An even larger march is expected on Saturday. 

UN News/Laura Quiñones

Young clime activists instrumentality portion successful demonstrations astatine the COP26 Climate Conference successful Glasgow, Scotland.

Welsh national Jane Mansfield carried astir a motion that read: “Code reddish for humanity”, the signature phrase UN Secretary General António Guterres used after the latest IPCC report published earlier this year warned of a looming climate catastrophe. 

“I truly attraction astir the satellite that we are passing connected to aboriginal generations, and what we are doing to the Global South. I unrecorded successful southwest Wales and clime alteration is intelligibly happening, but we don´t adjacent grasp what is happening successful truthful many other parts of the satellite and I americium scared,” she told UN News. 

Latin-American Indigenous leaders were also among today’s demonstrations. They were the ones starring the march and respective of them sent a large connection to satellite leaders: halt extracting resources and to ‘leave carbon in the ground’. 

“Indigenous radical are dying successful the river; they’re being washed distant by monolithic floods. Houses are being washed away, schools full of children inside, bridges, our nutrient our crops, everything is being washed away”, they said astatine a signifier successful George Square. 

Meanwhile, immoderate activists wore bobblehead masks of presidents and premier ministers and depicted them arsenic being arrested with signs that read “climate criminals”. 

More existent action, little ‘greenwashing’ 

Swedish activistic Greta Thunberg was the past to appear on the protest’s stage, wherever she criticized satellite leaders for their continued “blah, blah, blah” after 26 years of clime conferences and enactment successful uncertainty the transparency of the commitments they person made during this COP. 

“The leaders are not doing nothing; they are actively creating loopholes and shaping frameworks to payment themselves, and to proceed profiting from this destructive system. This is an progressive prime by the leaders to proceed the exploitation of quality and radical and the demolition of presents and aboriginal surviving conditions to instrumentality place”, she said, calling the conference a “greenwashing event”. 

Other Friday for Future members, speaking to UN News, asked for much information and amended younker practice successful the negotiations that are underway astatine COP26. 

“Every twelvemonth we person been disappointed by COP, and I don’t deliberation this twelvemonth volition beryllium different. There is simply a sliver of anticipation but astatine the aforesaid clip we don’t spot capable action, we can’t execute thing with conscionable pledges astatine bare promises”, said a representative of Youth Advocates for Climate Change successful the Philippines  

“Negotiations are happening and yet we are present successful the street, due to the fact that we haven’t been included. The richest radical travel successful their backstage jets and instrumentality the decisions. We are present and we won’t beryllium ignored. We volition marque our ain space”, different clime advocator added. 

The Youth Statement 

The aforesaid telephone was made wrong the Blue Zone of the conference, wherever clime activists from YOUNGO, the Children and Youth Constituency of UN Climate Change, delivered to the COP presidency and different leaders a connection signed by 40,000 young people demanding change. 

The statement raises several points of concern, among them inclusion in clime negotiations. They also asked Patricia Espinosa, the Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention connected Climate Change (UNFCCC), to support their efforts to have a paragraph mentioning the value of the younker included in the last declaration that is expected to beryllium adopted at the extremity of COP26. 

“We volition beryllium bringing these issues and demands to the attentions of the delegations, each of them are perfectly tenable and justifiable,” she vowed during a sheet treatment with young leaders.  

The statement, which was handed implicit to Ministers, also asks for enactment connected clime finance, mobility and transportation, wildlife protection and environmental conservation. 

“Wherever I person been successful the world, I person been struck by the passionateness and the committedness of young radical to clime action. The voices of young radical indispensable beryllium heard and reflected successful these negotiations present astatine COP. The actions and scrutiny of young radical are cardinal to america keeping 1.5 live and creating a net-zero future”, said Alok Sharma, COP26 President. 

Meanwhile, the UK and Italy, successful concern with UNESCO, Youth4Climate and Mock COP coordinated caller planetary enactment to equip aboriginal generations with the cognition and skills to make a net-zero world.  

As Education Ministers and young radical gathered, implicit 23 countries enactment guardant nationalist clime acquisition pledges, ranging from decarbonizing the education sector to processing schoolhouse resources. 

UN News/Laura Quiñones

Activist dressed arsenic dinosaur quality takes portion successful demonstrations astatine the COP26 Climate Conference successful Glasgow, Scotland.

The younker are right: the new commitments aren’t enough 

The UNFCCC published its latest updates of the nationalist commitments thus far to trim c emissions, and though immoderate advances person been made during the conference, they are inactive not enough. 

“A sizable increase, of astir 13.7 per cent, in planetary greenhouse emissions successful 2030 compared to 2010 is anticipated”, the study says. 

Before COP, the summation was calculated astatine 16 per cent, but for the satellite to beryllium capable to curb planetary heating and debar disastrous consequences, emissions indispensable beryllium chopped by 50 per cent in the next nine years. 

For Carla Huanca, a young activist who travelled each the mode from Bolivia to beryllium successful Glasgow with her friend, the dinosaur “T-Resilient”, different extinction can’t beryllium a possibility. 

“We young radical volition beryllium the ones that volition inherit this planet, and that is why it is so important that our voices are heard. We request authorities actions by governments to have the satellite we want,” she told UN News.