Greta Thunberg to join climate protests in London ahead of Cop26 summit

29 October 2021, 00:27

Climate change activist Greta Thunberg is set to join upcoming protests in London ahead of the COP26 conference.

The teenager is expected to be one of thousands protesting across 26 countries and every continent in the world on Friday, demanding the global financial system stops putting money into the use of fossil fuels.

The Day of Action protest could be one of the largest climate finance protests in history, taking place at financial centres in London, New York, San Francisco and Nairobi.

It comes after campaigners revealed banks have paid £2,754,145,000,000 into fossil fuel extraction since the 2015 Paris agreement where world leaders committed to limit the rise in global temperatures to 1.5C and reach net zero emissions by 2050.

The International Energy Authority said there can be no further exploration of oil and gas after 2021.

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Joseph Sikulu, from Pacific Climate Warriors, said: "Financial institutions that continue to invest in dirty fossil fuel projects are also investing in the destruction of our islands and our homes.

"It's time for the corporations who have caused this crisis to be held accountable.

"The science is clear. We need to do everything we can to limit global warming to 1.5C, the survival of our islands depends on that. To get there we need to defund the climate chaos."

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The protest comes days ahead of COP26, where global leaders - including Prime Minister Boris Johnson - will discuss how best the world can work together against climate change.

Mr Johnson previously said he feared the summit could fail to make the change needed for the environment.

"We need as many people as possible to go to net zero so that they are not producing too much carbon dioxide by the middle of the century. Now, I think it can be done. It's going to be very, very tough, this summit," he said.

"I'm very worried because it might go wrong and we might not get the agreements that we need."