Swedish activist Greta Thunberg has denounced world leaders for failing to act on climate change as the heads of state gather in Glasgow for the COP26 conference, a highly anticipated United Nations summit comprising delegates from more than 200 countries.
The 12-day summit, considered a critical step towards averting the most disastrous effects of the climate crisis, officially opened in the Scottish city on Monday (local time), with international leaders, environmental experts and climate change activists pleading for decisive action to halt global warming. Two days of speeches by world leaders will be followed by technical negotiations, but a deal may not be struck until close to, or even after, the event's November 12 finish date.
But as political figures took to the podium and posed for photo-shoots during the first full day of the summit, thousands of activists held their own rallies across the streets of Glasgow, with environmental activist Greta Thunberg, 18, joining a protest outside the Scottish Event Campus.
Thunberg, who is not scheduled to speak at the summit, has already proved popular in Glasgow, with throngs of bystanders quickly descending on the young activist after she arrived at Glasgow Central Station, according to videos of the scene shared on social media.
Outside the COP26 venue on Monday (local time), Thunberg took part in a protest held by 'Fridays for Future', telling the congregation that politicians attending the summit are merely "pretending to take our future seriously".
"This COP26 is so far just like the previous COPs and that has led us nowhere. They have led us nowhere," she told the group of activists.
"Inside COP there are just politicians and people in power pretending to take our future seriously, pretending to take the present seriously of the people who are being affected already today by the climate crisis.
"Change is not going to come from inside there. That is not leadership - this is leadership."
Speaking to The AM Show on Monday evening (local time), Newshub Europe correspondent Lisette Reymer says the young activist has already run riot in Glasgow - and it's only the first full day of the summit.
"She was just at a protest… We rolled up and saw her being literally shuffled up this hill secretly by a group of children because they all protect her like their lives depend on it. She is a real rockstar here in Glasgow, she gets swarmed probably more than anyone else," Reymer told The AM Show live from Glasgow.
"She really does run riot around the city - she's bouncing from high-level meetings with the likes of Nicola Sturgeon [First Minister of Scotland], to protests like this where she's saying, 'don't listen to anything going on in that convention centre'.
"She's definitely been one to watch today already."
Delayed by a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, COP26 aims to keep alive a target of capping global warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. To do that, it needs to secure more ambitious pledges to reduce emissions, lock in billions in climate-related financing for developing countries, and finish the rules for implementing the 2015 Paris Agreement, signed by nearly 200 countries.
"Climate financing" could make or break the talks. In 2009, the wealthy nations most responsible for global warming pledged to provide $100 billion per year by 2020 to help more vulnerable, developing countries cope with the looming, possibly cataclysmic consequences of climate change.
However, the commitment has still not been met, generating mistrust and a reluctance among some developing nations to accelerate their emissions reductions.
Reymer says Monday's proceedings did not result in any significant progress, with US President Joe Biden delivering a "lacklustre" speech that stopped short of making any firm commitments to combating climate change. The leader also seemingly fell asleep during the opening speeches, copping flak on social media.
During his speech on Monday (local time), Biden warned the climate crisis poses "the existential threat to human existence as we know it", urging other leaders to shift to clean energy. Biden's administration is attempting to reassert America's credibility in the space after predecessor Donald Trump pulled the US from the Paris Agreement, an international treaty on climate change adopted in 201, and dismissed science-backed evidence of the climate crisis.
"We will demonstrate to the world that the United States is not only back at the table but hopefully leading by the power of our example. I know it hasn't been the case, which is why my administration is working overtime to show our climate commitment is action, not words," Biden declared.
Reymer says the first full day saw a number of "dramatic warnings" about the severity of the situation, but as of yet nothing "super concrete" has transpired. Russia was also missing from the proceedings.
"There are a lot of very unprecedented, dramatic warnings about how dire the situation is, but as of yet there's not been anything super concrete," Reymer said. "There's not [been] an earth-shattering amount of progress."
One leader noticeably absent from the summit was Queen Elizabeth II, who has been advised by her physicians to take a futher two weeks of rest following a brief hospitalisation. The Queen instead recorded a video message for the COP26 reception, in which she said the climate crisis had been close to the heart of her late husband, Prince Philip, who died earlier this year.
"If we fail to cope with this challenge, all of the other problems will pale into insignificance," the monarch said in her message.
"In the coming days, the world has the chance to join in the shared objective of creating a safer, stabiler future for our people and for the planet on which we depend."
Monday also saw UN secretary general Antionio Guterres call on world leaders to stop treating the planet "like a toilet". India, the world's fourth biggest emitter of CO2, has pledged to achieve net zero carbon emissions - but not until 2070. Guterres is warning that will be too late, telling the conference "it's time to say, enough".
"Enough of killing ourselves with carbon. Enough of teaching nature like a toilet. We are digging our own graves."
Meanwhile, a voice from Aotearoa's Ngāti Kahungunu iwi spoke at the official opening earlier on Monday (local time). During her speech, young Māori activist India Logan-Riley warned delegates that climate change is rooted in colonialism.
"Six years I first spoke these stories into this space, and every year since I have repeated the same words - wildfires, sea-level rise, wildfires, suffering, sea-level rise, biodiversity loss, sea-level rise. Emissions continue to rise," she told the crowd. "I'm the same age as the negotiations.
"Learn our histories, listen to our stories, honour our knowledge and get in line, or get out of the way. Kia ora."
Speaking to The AM Show on Monday evening (local time), Logan-Riley said many contributors to climate change are also rooted in social injustices, particularly against indigenous communities.
"When we're trying to tackle climate change, we also need to be thinking about how we resolve those social justice issues at the same time - it's the same history and the same struggle," she said.
