Status: 05.11.2021 6:57 p.m.
In the halls of the climate conference, decision-makers are grappling with ways and means of slowing global warming. At the same time, climate activist Thunberg accuses them of inaction in front of thousands of demonstrators.
At a large demonstration on the sidelines of the World Climate Conference in Glasgow, climate activist Greta Thunberg accused the international community of inaction in the fight against climate change. It is no secret that the COP26 is failing, said the Swede on Friday in George Square in the center of the Scottish city. “It should be clear that we cannot solve a crisis using the same methods that got us into it in the first place.”
The 18-year-old accused the heads of state and government of consciously working towards maintaining the status quo and continuing to exploit people and nature as well as to destroy future living conditions. “The leaders don’t do nothing – they actively create loopholes and create framework conditions in order to benefit themselves and continue to benefit from this destructive system.”
The UN Climate Change Conference has become a public relations event, while the governments of wealthier countries have continued to refuse to take drastic climate action. “It seems that her main goal is to continue fighting for the status quo,” said Thunberg, repeating a criticism she had already voiced on Twitter the day before: “This is no longer a climate conference. This is now greenwashing -Festival of the Global North, a two-week celebration of business as usual and blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah ”.
She denounced that there have already been 26 such climate conferences. “But where have they taken us? More than 50 percent of all CO2 emissions have been emitted since 1990, a third since 2005.”
Thousands of participants in the demonstration
Thousands of people took part in the demonstration at which Thunberg spoke. They demand immediate action against the climate crisis. Slogans such as “Capitalism is killing the planet” and “Act now!” Could be read on posters. and “The dinosaurs also thought they had time”.
Before Thunberg, a number of other climate protectors from poorer regions of the world spoke on the stage. They came from countries in Africa, Asia and South America, where the consequences of the climate crisis are already being felt strongly today – despite the fact that these states, with their much lower emissions, have contributed significantly less to climate change than more prosperous countries such as Germany and Great Britain and the USA.
Al Gore: “Now is the time to listen to her”
Former US Vice President Al Gore expressed his solidarity with the demonstrators. “To everyone in the halls of COP26, now is the time to listen to them and act,” he wrote on Twitter. In a speech he said that the world could meet the expectations of young people – but that would put an end to the time of procrastination, distraction and clinging to the past. The international community must recognize that it has now entered a “phase of consequences” and is making it a “phase of solutions”.
The President of the World Climate Conference, Alok Sharma, expressed understanding for the anger of many young people about the long-delayed climate protection worldwide. “I understand that, I have children myself,” he said at an event at which young people demanded more ambition and speed in the fight against the climate crisis. At the same time, Sharma referred to the latest promises that give hope: For example, the pledge of major economies by the G20 to no longer subsidize the construction of coal-fired power plants abroad with public funds. The new pact of a good 100 countries to stop deforestation by 2030 is also groundbreaking. But he admitted: “Together we have to make sure that everyone keeps their promises.”
After the large-scale protest on Friday, another demonstration is to follow on Saturday, in which tens of thousands should again take part, according to the organizers’ expectations. Thunberg will also give a speech here. The protest is part of a global day of action that organizers estimate will bring hundreds of thousands to the streets in more than 200 cities around the world.