International leaders joined host and British Prime MinisterBoris Johnson in Glasgow this week for the COP26 Climate Change Conference to address the global community's commitments to climate action and the Paris Agreement on climate change.
Protesters, as usual, joined discussions from outside the summit representing a number of organizations, including Glasgow-based climate activists, global networks like Oxfam and Extinction Rebellion, and youth activists from Fridays for Future.
Initial protest actions ranged from public marches to detailed art installations, like Ocean Rebellion's rolling fishing boat that deposited garbage (including protesters dressed as dead mer-people) outside the COP26 venue. Young activists marched alongside the River Clyde and convened in Glasgow's Festival Park, while other protesters marched through subways and stood outside JP Morgan offices in town, demanding the bank stop investing in the fossil fuel industry.
"Failure is not an option. Failure is a death sentence."
Inside the summit, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres addressed world leaders on the first day of the 26th annual conference and appeared to agree with what many of the protesters have long said: Current commitments are not enough to turn around the climate crisis and leaders have to be more honest about it.
"Recent climate action announcements might give the impression that we are on track to turn things around. This is an illusion," Guterres said. "So, as we open this much anticipated climate conference, we are still heading for climate disaster. Young people know it. Every country sees it. Small Island Developing States — and other vulnerable ones — live it. For them, failure is not an option. Failure is a death sentence."
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Expect to see even more public installations like the ones below. COP26 meetings continue until Nov. 12.
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