In an effort to inspire change from world leaders at the recent COP26 climate summit, protesters have been gathering in the thousands to the streets of Glasgow, Scotland. Protests peaked on Friday and Saturday, gathering in Glasgow, where the COP26 Climate Summit is being held. It is estimated that Friday’s protests gathered 25,000 people, increasing to 100,000 by Saturday’s march. The protesters were diverse but united, with a large number of groups including Environmental organizations, national trade unions, Indigenous leaders from the Amazon, and Scottish independence groups joining together to call in unison for “climate justice”.
Despite holding a smaller attendance than the following day, Friday's gathering made waves through the powerful speeches and commanding message, calling world leaders to immediate action. Swedish activist, Greta Thunberg organized this protest through her group “Fridays for Future”, gathering children, teens, and young adults to protest the inaction of leaders surrounding the climate crisis. Despite the optimism of world leaders over the progress being made at the climate summit, Thunberg expressed disdain for the event by calling it, “a global north green wash festival.” and declaring it “no secret that COP26 is a failure”. Greta further expressed her discontent toward world leaders by arguing that their inaction, “is an active choice by the leaders to continue to let the exploitation of people and nature, and the destruction of future and present living conditions, to take place”. This sentiment was heavily supported at the protests with many attendees moved by Greta’s powerful speech and leadership. Her message was continued throughout Saturday with many protesters echoing Greta’s views on the COP26 climate summit.
Saturday’s march was a powerful successor to Friday's youth-led demonstration as 100,000 participants marched despite poor weather consisting of rough winds and steady rain. Participants marched whilst chanting, waving banners, and beating drums to raise awareness and support for their cause. The crowds gathered to hear speeches from dozens of climate activists with Asad Rehman being one of them.
Asad expressed the anger of many protesters through her speech stating, “Inside that conference of polluters, the climate criminals are hiding behind barbed wire and fences and lines of police”. This message was continued throughout the day with protesters blaming leaders for the climate crisis and being extremely skeptical of the pledges made at the COP26. They stressed that time is limited and attempted to put pressure on leaders to enact immediate change. Overall, despite being discontent with the results of the COP26, protesters successfully made their voices heard and gathered great support for their cause.
The protests held in Glasgow, Scotland demonstrate the growing support for the climate movement as tens of thousands gathered to support the cause. Yet, despite the protests against it, progress was made throughout the week at the COP26. Countries committed to new pledges to tackle deforestation and move away from coal, and at least 105 countries signed an agreement to reduce emissions of methane, by 30 percent by 2030. However, “experts say that, to avert the worst effects of climate change, temperature rise needs to be limited to 1.5 degrees Celsius, or 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit… And that goal is not within reach even if all countries fulfill their current pledges”. This is the cause of upset amongst protestors as, despite change taking place, it does not seem to be fast enough to save the planet. These protests serve to express the urgency of the climate crisis, successfully gathering awareness for the issue and rallying supporters to keep fighting for the planet.
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