COP26: delegates to be asked by activists ‘are you with us or with fossil fuels?”

A visual protest will ask delegates to choose between “a fossil fuel hellscape” and “a livable, thriving community”
Climate delegates will be asked to choose between “a fossil fuel hellscape and a livable, thriving community” (Getty Images)Climate delegates will be asked to choose between “a fossil fuel hellscape and a livable, thriving community” (Getty Images)
Climate delegates will be asked to choose between “a fossil fuel hellscape and a livable, thriving community” (Getty Images)

The protest, which takes place at 10am on Friday, will depict two worlds; one representing fossil fuels, the other climate justice.

Friday will mark the end of COP26 which saw leaders of the world descend on Glasgow to discuss action against climate change.

Critics of the summit have slated leaders for inaction.

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A draft agreement released on Wednesday was described by Greenpeace International executive director Jennifer Morgan as “not a plan to solve the climate crisis”.

“It’s a polite request that countries maybe, possibly, do more next year.”

Participants in Friday’s protest will gather at Finnieston Street near the COP26 entrance on Friday morning.

Why are activists targeting fossil fuels?

Friday’s protest, organised by the Glasgow Actions Team, will see activists wear costumes and utilise massive props, to put a spotlight on fossil fuels - a topic that organisers say has been “largely absent” from discussions.

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A spokesperson for Glasgow Actions Team said: “mention of fossil fuels has been largely absent from the UN climate negotiations, even as the fossil fuel industry posed an outsized presence.

“If the fossil-fuel lobby were a country delegation at COP, it would be the largest, with 503 delegates – twice as large as the UK’s. On Wednesday, a draft deal was released that mentions fossil fuels for the first time.

“But while it “calls upon Parties to accelerate the phasing-out of coal and subsidies for fossil fuels,” it offers no hard deadlines or specific goals. Yet its mention is likely to be contested in the final hours of COP26. “

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