Enlarge image
A protester in Glasgow
Photo: Andrew Milligan / dpa
One day before the start of the World Climate Conference, hundreds of climate activists took to the streets in Glasgow, Scotland.
The demonstrators marched through the city center on Saturday, holding up posters with slogans such as "Do actions instead of words" and "Stop fossil fuels".
The Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg has also arrived in Glasgow.
The demonstration was led by activists from the climate protection movement Extinction Rebellion, which has announced that it will bring the largest city in Scotland to a standstill with its protests during the climate conference.
"We are waiting for more ambitious measures," said the Belgian protester Dirk van Esbroeck.
The participants in the conference should be made aware of the "urgency of the situation".
"Because our children and grandchildren run the risk of having to live in a much more complicated world that will suffer serious upheavals due to climate change."
Van Esbroeck and 20 other members of the “Grandparents for the Climate” group had taken the train from Belgium to Edinburgh, the Scottish capital, and walked the last 75 kilometers to Glasgow.
Mass rally planned for next Friday
The demonstration on Saturday was the largest protest rally to date before the start of COP26.
A large demonstration has been announced for next Friday, the organizers are expecting up to 100,000 participants.
Thunberg came by train from London on Saturday, where she took part in a small protest against global banks on Friday.
"Finally in Glasgow for COP26," wrote the 18-year-old on Twitter.
"And thank you for the warm welcome."
Starting on Sunday, around 200 countries will be negotiating in Glasgow on the further implementation of the Paris Climate Agreement.
The agreement provides for global warming to be limited to well below two, if possible 1.5 degrees compared to the pre-industrial age.
According to UN data, the earth is currently heading for a dangerous warming of 2.7 degrees.
The meeting is therefore also considered to be crucial in the fight against the climate crisis.
The UN, scientists and environmental activists criticize the previous climate protection measures all over the world as inadequate.
In the run-up to the conference, there were therefore enormous doubts about the success of the conference.
sol / afp