Greta Thunberg told a mass rally in Glasgow that the COP26 climate summit has been a "failure". The Swedish activist had earlier joined thousands of young people - including striking school pupils - for a march through the city. She addressed the crowd, saying: "Immediate and drastic cuts to emissions are needed.
The march was organised by Fridays for Future Scotland, a group founded by youngsters inspired by Ms Thunberg, who said: "It is not a secret that COP26 is a failure. It should be obvious that we cannot solve a crisis with the same methods that got us into it in the first place.
"We need immediate and drastic annual emission cuts unlike anything the world has ever seen. The people in power can continue to live in their bubble filled with their fantasies, like eternal growth on a finite planet and technological solutions that will suddenly appear seemingly out of nowhere and will erase all of these crises just like that.
"All this while the world is literally burning, on fire, and while the people living on the front lines are still bearing the brunt of the climate crisis." Describing the UN climate change summit, she said: "It’s a two-week long celebration of business as usual and blah, blah, blah to maintain business as usual - creating loopholes to benefit themselves".
She added: "We know that our emperors are naked." Activists from other countries also gave speeches about how climate change is already affecting their homelands.
Vanessa Nakate from Uganda, said: "Historically, Africa is responsible for only 3% of global emissions and yet Africans are suffering some of the most brutal impacts fuelled by the climate crisis. But while the global south is on the frontlines of the climate crisis, they're not on the front pages of the world's newspapers."
The procession marched through the city, past the COP26 site at the Scottish Events Campus, before heading towards the city centre. It ended at George Square where a stage and speakers had been erected.
The wider Fridays for Future movement has seen young people around the world striking from school on a Friday to raise awareness of climate change.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said she was committed to "meaningful engagement" between the Scottish government and young people and to involve them in decision-making.
She said: "In Scotland, we are already acting to tackle the climate emergency, but, as we have heard from children and young people this week from Scotland and round the globe, is it not enough and we must do more." Meanwhile, the Prince of Wales expressed sympathy with the anger and frustration of the young activists in a speech addressing COP26 negotiators, telling delegates the "weight of history" was on their shoulders.
He said he had been invited to take part in the march, but would not be able to do so.
Downing Street said young people missing school to attend the demonstration is disruptive at a time when the pandemic has already had a huge impact on their learning. Glasgow City Council and most neighbouring local authorities said that schoolchildren would not be punished for taking part in the climate strike - but urged parents to let schools know if a pupil would be off for safety check purposes.
