The #COP26 conference is slated to continue until 12th November, but it has already seen its fair hare of criticism and protests, mainly from #youth activists in #Glasgow #UK. Firstly, there were the 'anti #coal ' #Pikachu protests against continued and expanding cosumption and investment in #Coal by #Japan. #Greta #Thunberg, famous youth #climate #activist, called the COP 26 summit a "total failure" and said that leaders were purposefully not doing enough and "creating loopholes" #UK based Extinction Rebellion caled the entire summit systematically "corrupt" and geared towards "vested interests"

Save The Children On Climate Change

Save The Children is one of the oldest child welfare and rights protection NGO's in the world which was established in Britain in 1919. Yolande Wright, Global Director of Child Poverty and Climate at Save the Children has said that while the 'Youth Day' at COP 26 was appreciated for its acknowledgement of children and young adults as stakeholders, it was not going far enough.

“The inclusion of children and young people has not been made a priority, even with major barriers to attendance like vaccine inequity and global inequality. But even those who made it here have struggled, with many young activists in Glasgow telling Save the Children this week that as well as being excluded from negotiations, they have even had trouble finding and following them online. It seems much more could have been done, even with COVID restrictions, to create opportunities for meaningful inclusion".

Read the full text of the statement here

Greta Thunberg Dismisses Summit As "Failure"

After her earlier dismissal of world leadership over the climate change issue with the telling words "bla bla bla', the flippant phrase has now made it to the walls of Glasgow with the message t world leaders saying "we will never forgive you". Thunberg organized the Fridays for Future march in Glasgow and went as far as to say that "history will judge [world leaders] poorly" for their failure to take effective climate action.

Many activists other than Thunberg have caught on to the term "greenwashing" akin to "whitewashing" which means covering up anti-environment and anti-Earth policies with "green" an "climate friendly" sounding rhetoric. There were many creative banners and placards held up at the protests.

'Extinction Rebellion' Denounces Climate Change As ‘Crime Against Humanity’

Extinction Rebellion is the name of a Britain-based climate activism collective that has regularly agitated on climate and environmentalism issues. It has stated that the summit is compromised by “vested interests”: “The Climate and Ecological Emergency is a Crime Against Humanity perpetrated by the rich and powerful, and the COP process is systematically corrupted by vested interests – national, corporate and financial.”

It says further: “What we expect is catastrophic failure, which will be spun by the government as a success to an unsuspecting public. Both the governments represented and the NGOs will be promoting an atmosphere of optimism and possibility.”

Read the full text of the statement here

Pikachu Urge Japan To Quit Coal 

Activists dressed up as the famous Japanese anime characger Pikachu from the videogame/TV series Pokemon carried placards protesting the Japanese government's decision to not commit to coal phase out. Currently, 18% of Japan's electricity is made from coal, and it is planning to expand its coal portfolio by starting 10 new coal-fired plants. Besides, it also has plans to invest in coal powered plants in Bangladesh and Indonesia.