Climate activists from Extinction Rebellion Scotland and other groups have staged an 'impromptu' demonstration outside the SECC campus where Cop26 delegates are meeting.
Crowds which had earlier taken past in a 'Trillion Dollar Bash' outside the offices of JP Morgan in Glasgow's Waterloo Street then marched on the site of the summit itself, though they were turned back by police blocking entry.
Protestors had gathered outside JP Morgan on Waterloo Street to call out the bank's continued profits from and investment into fossil fuel projects and contribution to the suffering caused by the climate crisis as the Cop26 summit takes place nearby.
Protestors from @ScotlandXr have made it to #COP26 and are marching by the site accompanied by dozens of police officers. @LBC | @LBCNews pic.twitter.com/1uXfDaKbvg
— Phil McDonald (@philmcdonald94) November 2, 2021
Around a hundred protesters gathered in the area and were temporarily prevented from crossing the Clyde Arc bridge before being escorted on by dozens of police – where some staged a sit-down.
One Extinction Rebellion campaigner, Luca Trivellone, 27, from Italy, said: “We all know Cop26 has already failed before it even started.
“We are expecting emissions to rise instead of net zero by 2030. We are never going to get there.”
The demonstration comes ahead of a larger march planned by Extinction Rebellion, other environmental groups, and members of the public tomorrow, which will take to the streets with banners bearing messages for the governments and companies they accuse of 'greenwashing' - IE touting their environmental credentials while still enabling the production of greenhouse gasses, waste and pollution.
They will accuse COP26 sponsors of covering up their destructive habits with this PR trick while corrupting climate negotiations and endangering life on Earth.
Young activists on the march today
Extinction Rebellion activist Helen Smith, 34, from Glasgow, who plans to attend the march, said: “I’m so tired of the number of companies profiting from a disingenuous perception of themselves as ‘ethical’ or ‘green’ when the reality is totally the opposite.
"It makes us all sceptical of genuine green claims at a time when this action is more important than ever.
"I’m marching to take a stand against all companies harming the planet while offering inexcusably skewed perceptions of themselves for the benefit of their own brand image. And to call to our government to improve regulation to make misguiding the public illegal.”
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