With the first days of the COP26 global climate change summit underway, protesters from around the world are convening in Glasgow, Scotland to make their demands clear — the climate crisis is now a red alert.
Eighteen-year old climate activist Greta Thunberg joined protesters outside the COP26 meetings, speaking about the importance of youth leadership and her dismay at current politicians. Thunberg and other youth activists convening in Glasgow — including Vanessa Nakate, Dominika Lasota, and Mitzi Tan — are asking others to sign on to their demands for urgent action in an open letter to world leaders.
“COP26 is so far just like the previous COPs, and that has led us nowhere — they have led us nowhere,” Thunberg told the crowd gathered outside. “Inside COP, they are politicians and people in power pretending to take our futures seriously.”
In an interview with Reuters last week, Thunberg said she expects leaders to shell out more “meaningless” speeches and pledges at this year’s conference. “What I would consider to be a success would be honesty,” she told the publication.
During her speech to protesters on Monday, Thunberg reiterated a similar sentiment. “Change is not going to come from inside there. That is not leadership. This is leadership… We say ‘No more blah, blah, blah… No more whatever the fuck they’re doing inside there.'”
Some were upset by the media attention given to Thunberg during the first days of protest, however. Thunberg addressed concerns that media outlets were once again leaving out her fellow activists, tweeting, “There were more people in that meeting. Media needs to stop erasing the voices of activists, especially the most affected people from the most affected areas.”
To that end, if you’re looking to follow more activists beyond Thunberg, here’s a list of young people working to stop the climate crisis.
Meanwhile, on Monday, Thunberg had another message to deliver in song form: “You can shove your climate crisis up your arse!”