Activists from around the world have taken to the stage at Cop26 for a “People’s Plenary” session.
The Cop26 Coalition organised the event on Friday, with one of the UN climate conference’s halls filled with hundreds of representatives from civil society groups.
As #COP26 draws to a close, inside the COP venue, UN constituencies representing #climatejustice movements stand firm on the just and urgent outcome needed at the People's Plenary.
Read The People's COP26 Declaration: https://t.co/IJL80bkd1a
— COP26 Coalition (@COP26_Coalition) November 12, 2021
A number of protests are due to take place on the final scheduled day of Cop26, though the summit is expected to overrun into the weekend.
The activists at the People’s Plenary are due to march from within the blue zone to meet other groups, who are gathering outside.
A rally is expected to take place in Finnieston Street outside the venue in the afternoon.
Indigenous Peoples organizations rise up at the #COP26 #PeoplesPlenary 📣 to denounce colonialism, the root of the climate crisis.
“I am not going to come to my colonizers for solutions.” ‼️ pic.twitter.com/AjIYW2XK18
— Women & Gender Constituency (@WGC_Climate) November 12, 2021
One of those speaking at the People’s Plenary was Ta’Kaiya Blaney, an indigenous activist from Canada.
She said: “Myself and others have been criminalised by our government.
“I watched (prime minister) Justin Trudeau pose for pictures with indigenous land defenders, meanwhile land defenders are taken as political prisoners back home.”
Mary Church, of Friends of the Earth Scotland, said the meeting was to express “deep frustration” with the climate summit.
She said: “We are hurtling ever closer to reaching the critical 1.5C threshold.
“Climate change already impacts and threatens billions of lives.”
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