Greta Thunberg and thousands of climate activists took over Glasgow on Friday to protest against the lack of climate action as they marched towards the site of the United Nations COP26 summit.

Protesters met at Kelvingrove Park at 11:30 a.m. GMT and walked about 20 minutes to the conference center as they chanted "We are unstoppable, another world is possible." Though led by Thunberg, the march was organized by Fridays for Future Scotland.

As COP26 shifts the focus of its events to the impact of climate change on future generations, the protest was a reminder of the growing pressure world leaders face to combat global warming as they near the end of the summit’s first week.

During the protest, Thunberg called COP26 a “failure,” “exclusionary” and “a global north green wash festival,” The Washington Post reported.

“It is not a secret that COP26 is a failure,” said Thunberg. “It should be obvious that this crisis cannot be solved with the same methods that got us into it in the first place.”

Youth climate activists have called COP26 the “most exclusionary” U.N. climate summit ever, as many poor countries who will be the most affected by climate change were unable to attend due to COVID restrictions.

However, that is not the rhetoric some leaders are conveying.

Manish Bapna, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council, told the Post that nations have already made significant commitments preventing deforestation, reducing methane emissions and halting financing for fossil fuel projects overseas.

“COP26 is probably unfolding in a way that exceeds expectations compared to where we were a couple months ago, in no small part because I do think we’ve seen a few countries — a few important countries — step up,” Bapna said.

With only one week to go, activists are waiting to see what the future of the entire world holds as they continue to pressure leaders at the climate summit.

RELATED STORIES
Coronavirus