Tens of thousands of protesters are set to take to the streets in Glasgow, London and other cities in the UK and around the world today to demand action on climate change.
In Glasgow, where UN summit COP26 is taking place, around 50,000 people are expected to march through the city centre as part of the event’s global day of action for climate justice.
Climate change activists in Sydney joined together earlier today in calling for the rich to be abolished, which the eco-warriors allege will save the planet.
Dancers and Extinction Rebellion protesters joined tens of thousands of people marching for action on global warming around the UK and the rest of the world today.
Climate change protesters have started to gather in Glasgow to protest politicians’ action to battle global warming across the world
Mena and women waving red flags were guarded by police officers in Glasgow during the demonstrations in the city today
A woman holds a poster that says ‘seize the wealth of the billionaires’ and ‘make the polluters pay’ as a man helps her carry a climate change banner made by a Trotskyist organisation
A demonstrator in a crimson mask with brightly dyed red hair protests climate change
A climate change protester holds up a placard that says ‘There is no Planet B’ during a climate change demonstration in Glasgow today
Climate change activists in Sydney join together in calling for the rich to be abolished, which the eco-warriors allege will save the planet. Tens of thousands of protesters will march for action on global warming around the UK and the rest of the world today
With faces painted white, protesters wore clothing designed to remind everyone present of the blood that binds humanity together in costumes inspired by Bristol street performers the Invisible Circus
Dancers from the Matavai Pacific Cultural Arts Centre are seen during a rally to mark the Global Day of Action on Climate in Sydney
Marches for climate change are happening around the world today. More than 50,000 people are expected to decscend on the UK’s streets. Pictured: People participate in a rally in Sydney today
Protesters in Australia gathered in Sydney to voice their displeasure at the way politicians are handling the threat of climate change
Extinction Rebellion protesters were protesting about climate change during a rally to mark the Global Day of Action on Climate in Sydney today
Demonstrators have started to make their way to the protest in Glasgow today as the the UN Climate Change Conference COP26 continues in the city
A man and a woman stand and sit on and near to bikes that will be used during the protest. Each bike has a banner reading ‘people around the world are marching for climate justice’
Demonstrators will also be on the streets of central London, as well as for 200 events across the UK and around the world, organisers said.
The marches come after thousands of youth activists, including Greta Thunberg, marched through Glasgow on Friday to decry investment in fossil fuels and failure to tackle the climate crisis.
Ms Thunberg called the COP26 conference, where countries are meeting in a bid to increase ambition on cutting greenhouse gas emissions, ‘a global greenwash festival, a two-week long celebration of business as usual and blah blah blah’.
The young Swedish activist has digressed from her usual calmly mannered rhetoric and opted for a few more choice words about politicians and how they have reacted to climate change.
The teenage activist spoke about people being ‘p****d off’ by protests and was also filmed singing ‘You can shove your climate crisis up your a***’ while outside COP26.
In England, a local authority can issue parents with a fine for a child’s non-attendance which is $81 (£60) but rises to $162 (£120) after 21 days but within 28 days. There is no right of appeal, and the authority can prosecute the parent if it is unpaid. Repeated offenses can see the fines rise to $3,400 (£2,500), as well as possible jail terms of up to three months.
The situation is different in Scotland, where there are no automatic fines for parents who take children out of school without permission during term-time – although the education authority can hold a meeting with their parents regarding truancy and then choose to prosecute them through a sheriff court if it wishes. Parents in some council areas have previously been threatened with prison or fines of up to $1,350 (£1,000) in criminal proceedings.
But in London, Downing Street said young people missing school to attend the demonstration was ‘extremely disruptive at a time when the pandemic has already had a huge impact on their learning’. Pictured: Demonstrators carry placards at a Fridays for Future march during the UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow today.
The statement continued: ‘That’s exactly why we’re empowering them through our new virtual national education park, climate leaders awards, and giving teachers the tools to put climate change at the heart of the curriculum, and we’re backing this up with our continued pledge to cut the carbon footprint of school buildings as well.’
Teenage activist Greta Thunberg spoke about people being ‘p****d off’ by protests while on the BBC and was also filmed singing ‘You can shove your climate crisis up your a**e’ while outside COP26. Pictured: Thunberg (centre) is helped by security personnel during the Fridays for Future Scotland march through Glasgow yesterday
Ms Thunberg gave a passionate and foul-mouthed speech last week, telling demonstrators: ‘Inside COP, there are just politicians and people in power pretending to take our future seriously… No more blah blah blah, no more whatever the f*** they are doing inside there!’
As heads of Government from around the world discussed what could be done to save the planet from ruin, the Swedish eco activist appeared to lay the blame for looming natural disasters squarely on them as she riled up her fellow activists with a chant of: ‘You can shove your climate crisis up your a***’.
However, US special presidential envoy for climate John Kerry said there was a greater sense of urgency and focus at the COP26 talks than ever.
However, he added he was ‘frustrated’ over the pace of climate action and warned it was ‘not job done’ at the conference.
The latest demonstrations come midway through the COP26 summit, which has seen about 120 leaders gather in Glasgow to set out the action they are taking and commit to curb deforestation, phase out coal, end funding for fossil fuels abroad and cut methane emissions.
Yet there is still a significant gap between the measures countries have committed to and what is needed to avoid more than 1.5C of warming, beyond which the worst floods, droughts, storms and rising seas of climate change will be felt.
Countries are under pressure to agree a to increased ambition in tackling global warming in the next decade, as well as to deliver money for developing countries to cope with the crisis and finalise the last parts of how the global Paris Agreement on climate change will work.
A truck carrying insulation is turned around as Insulate Britain block traffic at Parliament Square in Westminster last week
Climate activists from Insulate Britain attempted to block traffic at Parliament Square last week and tried to stop an insulation lorry from delivering its precious load
As the protests take place, negotiations continue at COP26, while the conference is also focusing on the role of nature, land use and agriculture in tackling climate change on Saturday.
One of the protesters taking part in Saturday’s demonstrations, Mikaela Loach, is a young Scottish climate activist who is challenging the UK’s North Sea oil and gas expansion in court.
She said: ‘Many thousands of us are marching right across the world today to demand immediate and serious action.
‘We’re clear that warm words are not good enough and that the next week of talks must see a serious ramping up of concrete plans.’
The demonstrations come after months of eco-warriors from Insulate Britain, an offshoot of Extinction Rebellion, have divided public opinion about their extreme protesting methods.
The climate enthusiasts blocked roads by sitting down or gluing themselves to the tarmac, causing havoc for commuters.
Just last week the group were ridiculed for blocking an insulation lorry carrying the exact materials they want installed in homes across the country as activists took their sit-down protests to the heart of Westminster.