Tens of thousands expected in Glasgow climate demonstrations – Thunberg speaks

Glasgow (DPA-AFX) – Thousands of people are expected to participate in a mass demonstration for more climate protection in Glasgow on Friday (12 noon CET), almost a week after the World Climate Conference begins. After a march through the city center, Swede Greta Thunberg, founder of the climate protection movement Friday for the Future, will deliver a speech at George Square at noon (around 3 p.m.). Ugandan climate justice activist Vanessa Nakate said heads of state and government signed several agreements this week. “But we know that’s not enough.” Such protests put enormous pressure on those in power.

The next performance will take place on Saturday in Glasgow, which organizers expect to attract more than 100,000 people. Thunberg, Nakate, and Scottish rapper Loki are also in talks here. It also includes farmers, trade unions, religious groups, anti-racism activists, indigenous groups and local community groups, as it was said. The protest is part of a Global Day of Action that organizers estimate will see hundreds of thousands of people take to the streets in more than 200 cities around the world.

There has already been a lot of constructive protest around the convention venue in Glasgow in recent days: activists from the Ocean Rebellion group demonstrated on Thursday against pollution of the world’s oceans as larger-than-life, bloody fish, while giant Pokémon figures to quickly end coal-fired power generation in Japan. Earlier, some protesters had already disguised themselves as Boris Johnson, Vladimir Putin, Angela Merkel and other state leaders, playing a deadly game with the planet in the style of the Netflix series “Squid Game”. .

Greta Thunberg also took part in several protests and events during the summit and repeatedly expressed criticism that voices from the global south, particularly those affected by climate change, are not heard enough. “This is no longer a climate conference,” she tweeted on Thursday. “It’s a green festival of the global north.” Due to varying access to coronavirus vaccines, as well as travel restrictions and visa regulations, travel to Glasgow was impossible for many interested parties.

In Scotland, nearly 200 countries are struggling to figure out how the goal of limiting global warming to a maximum tolerable level of 1.5 degrees is still achievable. According to the plans presented by the states leading up to the summit, the world is moving towards 2.7 degrees along with its current plans with disastrous consequences. The planned end of the conference is November 12th./toz/DP/stk