WATCH: Thousands march with Greta Thunberg at youth climate protest in Glasgow

Youth activists and protesters are taking to the streets of Glasgow to demand action on climate change as the Cop26 summit continues in the city.

Climate activist Greta Thunberg, fellow activist Vanessa Nakate and other young campaigners, as well as local trade unionists, will speak to crowds at the end of the march.

The climate strike, organised by Fridays for Future Scotland, is marching from Kelvingrove Park to George Square, and is calling on world leaders and politicians to act properly on climate change.

The #FridaysForFuture march is on the move #Cop26 pic.twitter.com/jUQ7pK450y

— The Sunday Post (@Sunday_Post) November 5, 2021

It comes as Ms Thunberg criticised the two-week conference, claiming it is the most “excluding Cop ever,” labelling it “greenwashing” and a “two-week celebration of business as usual and blah blah blah”.

An estimated 8,000 to 10,000 people are expected to take part in the march.

#COP26 has been named the must excluding COP ever.

This is no longer a climate conference.

This is a Global North greenwash festival.

A two week celebration of business as usual and blah blah blah.

— Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) November 4, 2021

A group of mothers from around the world, including Rosamund Adoo Kissi Debrah, whose daughter Ella died from an asthma attack as a result of severe air pollution, will be handing in a letter at Cop26 calling for an end to new fossil fuel financing for the sake of their children’s health and future.

They will then join the youth strikers marching through Glasgow.

Friday’s protest comes ahead of marches on Saturday where tens of thousands of people are expected in Glasgow, with other marches in London and cities around the UK, as well as across the world.

© PA

The protests come at the end of the first week of the conference, where countries are under pressure to increase ambition on cutting the greenhouse gas emissions that are driving climate change, to avoid the worst impacts of warming, and to ensure finance for poor countries to tackle the crisis.

© PA

Other protests this week have included those outside the JP Morgan and Chase building in Glasgow.

The banking company is the world’s number-one provider of finance to the fossil fuels industry.

“Listen to the planet”

World leaders at Cop26 need to put profit aside and “listen to the planet”, a marcher at the school strike protest in Glasgow has said.

Charlie O’Rourke, 14, is taking part in the climate protest from Kelvingrove Park to the city centre.

The Glasgow pupil said his message to those nearby at the Cop26 conference was “listen”.

“Listen, listen to the people,” he said.

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“Listen to what they want to say. Don’t just go for profit. Listen to what the planet needs and things like that.

“I mean, obviously, everyone’s hopeful, but it really does depend on the Government and the way they change.

“Obviously the Cambo (oil field), let’s hope that doesn’t happen because that would really, really mess up the world. But we can only hope.”

Cop26 so far

Earlier in the week around 120 world leaders gathered at the Cop26 summit to set out the action they were taking to tackle the climate crisis.

There have also been announcements on curbing deforestation, phasing out coal and boosting finance flows towards transforming economies to be green.

But shadow business secretary Ed Miliband warned against “shifting the goalposts” to focus on long-term targets and vague announcements in various sectors instead of on urgent action by countries to cut emissions to get the world on track to limit temperature rises to 1.5C.

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In an event on Thursday night US special presidential envoy for climate John Kerry said the Cop26 summit is a “critical” event which he described as the world’s “last best hope to get us on course”.

Speaking at the CBI dinner, he called on developed countries to help less-developed countries in the fight against climate change and warned trillions were needed from private finance “because no government in the world has enough money” to cope with climate change.