COP26: Greta Thunberg joins boisterous London protest
The Swedish teen joined protesters ahead of the COP26 climate conference to rail against banks profiting off environmental destruction. Organizers say similar protests were being staged in 26 countries around the world.
Thunberg and other young protesters are calling on banks to 'stop funding our destruction'
Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg joined a small yet boisterous group of a couple dozen young people protesting in front of Standard Chartered bank in London's City financial district on Friday.
What happened during the protests?
Demonstrators had protested in front of other banks in the district before being joined by Thunberg. They are scheduled to hold a vigil in front of the Bank of England later in the evening.
Organizers said similar protests were being held in 26 other countries around the world in an attempt to focus attention on the fact that banks are profiting off of environmental destruction by funding the fossil fuel industry as world leaders prepare to meet in Glasgow, Scotland, Sunday for the COP26 climate summit.
Protesters say they are calling on financial institutions to finally stop the extraction of fossil fuels such as oil, gas and coal.
"We've come here today as a part of this week of action because ... the UK and corporations in the UK have been funding climate chaos and the destruction of our islands for decades," said Joseph Sikuli, an activist from the South Pacific island nation of Tonga.
"Today we're outside @StanChart asking them to stop funding our destruction," Thunberg tweeted Friday.
'Climate justice' march also expected in Glasgow
Thunberg and other young activists from various corners of the globe will be traveling to Scotland for the 12-day United Nations COP26 climate change summit. Thunberg has also announced plans to attend a November 5 "climate justice" march in Glasgow.
A leader in the "Fridays for Future" climate protest movement that she is largely credited with starting back in 2018, the 18-year-old Swede was not optimistic that the 26th incarnation of the climate summit would bring about the dramatic changes needed to stop global warming.
"As it is now, this COP will not lead to any big changes, we're going to have to continue pushing," Thunberg told reporters at a climate concert in Stockholm last week.
Issued on: 29/10/2021 -
Thunberg joined a protest outside the London headquarters of Standard Chartered bank, tweeting they were "asking them to stop funding our destruction" Tolga Akmen AFPLondon (AFP)
Teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg attended a small protest in London on Friday against global banks' role in the fossil fuel industry, ahead of travelling to the upcoming COP26 summit in Scotland.
The 18-year-old environmental icon joined a few dozen young protesters demanding banks stop financing polluting projects, such as fossil fuel extraction, outside the headquarters of Standard Chartered bank.
After being thronged by the hordes of waiting cameras, she briefly rallied with other young activists at the site in London's financial district before leaving without making a speech.
The group posed for picture behind a banner reading "defund climate chaos! Stop funding our destruction!" while others held aloft placards with similar slogans.
"Today we're outside @StanChart asking them to stop funding our destruction," Thunberg tweeted soon after.
"Banks still pour fantasy amounts into fossil fuels, destabilising the planet and putting many people's lives at risk."
The demonstrators had earlier protested at several other sites in the City of London finance hub and were due to hold a vigil later Friday outside the Bank of England.
A banner reading "defund climate chaos! Stop funding our destruction!" Tolga Akmen AFP"We've come here today as a part of this week of action because... the UK and corporations in the UK have been funding climate chaos and the destruction of our islands for decades," Joseph Sikuli, an activist from Tonga in the South Pacific, told AFP.
Organisers say similar protests are being held in 26 countries worldwide ahead of COP26.
The 12-day gathering of world leaders and environmental policy delegates kicks off Sunday in the Scottish city Glasgow.
Thunberg, whose Fridays For Future movement has inspired massive street protests around the world since 2018, has confirmed she plans to join a November 5 march for "climate justice" there.
Earlier this month, she voiced concern the summit would not achieve the landmark agreements needed to combat catastrophic climate change.
"As it is now, this COP will not lead to any big changes, we're going to have to continue pushing," she told AFP on the sidelines of a climate concert organised in Stockholm.
© 2021 AFP
Swedish activist says she has not officially been invited to Glasgow climate summit
Weronika Strzyżyńska
Fri 29 Oct 2021
Greta Thunberg has joined protesters at a “climate justice memorial” in the City of London to protest against the financing of fossil fuel industries ahead of the Cop26 summit.
Activists from environmental groups including Pacific Climate Warriors, Coal Action Network and Extinction Rebellion laid wreaths and flowers at the entrance of the Lloyd’s headquarters.
The Swedish climate campaigner joined activists outside Standard Chartered chanting: “We are unstoppable, another world is possible” and: “What do we want? Climate justice. When do we want it? Now.”
Thunberg also said she had “not officially” been invited to Cop26. In a preview clip for an interview with Andrew Marr for his BBC One show, she said: “I don’t know. It’s very unclear. Not officially … I think that many people might be scared that if they invite too many radical young people, then that might make them look bad.”
When asked by Marr whether more young people should have been invited to attend the climate convention, she said: “Not necessarily radical young voices, but we need more representation from the so-called global south, from the most affected people and areas.
“It’s not fair, when for example one country sends lots and lots of delegates, and then another country is very under-represented. That already creates an imbalance and climate justice is at the very heart of this crisis. As long as we keep ignoring the historical responsibility of the countries of the global north and as long as we continue to ignore it, the negotiations will not have a successful outcome.”
Friday’s demonstrations were part of global action targeting the financial centres of the largest economies around the world the weekend before the UN’s Cop26 climate summit. Activists aim to draw attention to the disadvantaged communities most affected by the climate crisis in what they hope will be the largest financial climate protest in history.
“We want to commemorate and commiserate the homes and lives lost to the climate crisis,” one Extinction Rebellion member said on Friday.
“We want to call on Lloyd’s as Pacific Islanders to move the money away from fossil fuel industry so we can put an end to an era which is exporting harm directly to our islands,” said Brianna Fruean, who came to the UK to participate in Cop26.
Lloyd’s is an insurance market which Coal Action Network, one of the protest’s organisers, claims “underwrites the majority of the world’s most climate-wrecking projects”.
The demonstrations have also targeted Macquarie Group, an investment bank that the protesters have said is financing the Silvertown tunnel in London, which is planned to link the borough of Newham and the Greenwich peninsula. Extinction Rebellion activists say the tunnel will bring more traffic and pollution to Newham, which is one of the city’s most deprived and polluted boroughs, though the mayor’s office has said it does not expect it to worsen pollution.
Protests took place in 26 countries on Friday, and are also targeting JP Morgan Chase in the US and Deutsche Bank in Germany.
No comments:
Post a Comment