PEOPLE on almost every continent were gathering for marches and rallies on Saturday to mark a Global Day for Climate Justice, halfway through the Glasgow climate change summit.
Activists in the Philippines, which is eight hours ahead of the UK, had already finished their rally as protesters gathered in Scotland. There were also rallies in South Korea, Indonesia, the Netherlands and France. The Belgian arm of Extinction Rebellion occupied a street in Brussels.
By 11am in Glasgow, the rain had become a steady downpour but the crowd were still assembling at Kelvingrove park, wearing bright rainwear and carrying homemade placards. Buses disgorged their passengers at the park entrance by thick lines of police, while activists struggled to assemble banners in the wind.
Nevertheless the early mood was one of cheerful acceptance. “What do you expect protesting in Glasgow?” asked Lucy Bell, who works for the Vegan Kind, an online vegan supermarket based in Rutherglen. “There are so many people here from different backgrounds. It’s easy to get discouraged by the negotiations going on behind closed doors but I’m feeling optimistic this morning despite the rain.”
In Glasgow city centre, direct action group Scientist Rebellion blocked the King George V bridge, one of the main routes to the south side, at around 11.30am. Around 20 scientists, from students to a retired professor, all wearing lab coats are standing chained together by the neck. The coalition of activist academics believes non-violent civil disobedience is the only remaining option to draw attention to the extremity of the climate crisis.
“There have been 25 previous COPs with no measurable impact on GHG emissions,” said Tim Hewlett, co-founder and one of those on the bridge. “In fact, about half of the GHG emissions have been released since COP1 in 1995. So we’re not here to speak truth to power – they already know – but to the powerless, and to raise their voices in turn.” Hewlett added that the lab coats they were wearing were at least offering some protection from the rain.
Jo Harknett, 48, came to Glasgow from Edinburgh with her daughter Grace, 12, and mother Linda, 73. She said: “We feel lucky to live near the Cop gathering, so wanted to show support and solidarity; to raise our voices for people who can’t be here and to remind those who hold purse strings and write policies that the time for radical change is now and they can lead the way.”
Grainne McGinn, 22, from Glasgow attended Friday’s youth protest and Saturday’s bigger march for climate justice. “Climate change is so important but Youth voices especially disabled youth voices are not being heard. We’ve seen in the news how inaccessible cop has been for delegates, that’s the day to day experience for all disabled people and it’s so important that our voices are heard in the conversation in climate change. I’m here to represent.”
Vegan activists fought strong gales to make their point with four giant inflatable animals tethered on ropes above their heads or strapped to the ground. Each symbolised a different problem of the livestock industry: a cow for methane, a chicken for covid and health, a fish for micro plastics, and a pig for obesity. “The cow in the room is being ignored at this Cop,” said Carl Le Blanc of Climate Healers. “Animal agriculture has been taken off the agenda and put on the menu.”
Anja Schoene, 43, an environmental consultant who lives in Glasgow told the Guardian: “I came here because I care not only about my little daughter and my family but everybody else, not only in this country but world wide. I’m in my early 40s and it’s always portrayed as if it’s just a problem for young people but when I’m 80, I don’t want to die from a heat stroke, because of the warming. This is why it is important for myself, but I also care about other people who have to live with the consequences today.”
Nicola Sturgeon has said she has confidence that today’s mass climate march will be policed “appropriately” after campaigners at Cop26 raised concerns about “heavy-handed” policing of protests over the first week of the summit.
Between 50,000 and 100,000 people are expected to join the Global Day for Climate Justice in Glasgow, with more than 200 similar events taking place around the world, and over 100 in the UK alone.
Sturgeon told reporters on Friday that Iain Livingstone, Police Scotland’s chief constable, had spoken to the force’s independent advisory group after the concerns were raised in an open letter published on Thursday evening.
The march will set off from Kelvingrove park at midday, organised in a series of campaign blocs and walk through the city to Glasgow Green for a rally with speakers including Greta Thunberg, Mitzi Jonelle Tan, Vanessa Nakate and Darren McGarvey.
Asad Rehman, a spokesperson for the COP Coalition, said: “We are taking to the streets across the world this weekend to push governments from climate inaction to climate justice.
“This has been the least accessible climate summit ever – with so many people side-lined at the talks or not able to make it in the first place. Today those people are having their voices heard.”
Assistant chief constable Gary Ritchie appealed to marchers to act responsibly and warned people travelling to Glasgow to prepare for delays.
He added: “There will be an increased police presence in Glasgow and roads, public transport and the streets will be significantly busier than would normally be expected in the city on a Saturday.
“If you’re going to a march, please act responsibly, be respectful in your actions and follow the route and instructions given to you by event organisers or police officers.”
