Greta Thunberg, a Swedish activist, has called on banks to cease financing climate “destruction”
Image credit: DW
Prior to the UN COP26 climate summit, Greta Thunberg has called on banks to “stop subsidising our destruction.”
The adolescent Swedish climate activist is in London for protests demanding that the financial system stop supporting fossil-fuel projects.
Demonstrations against fossil fuel investment are taking place as world leaders converge in the Scottish city ahead of the commencement of COP26 on Sunday. The demonstration in London is part of a worldwide series that will take place on Friday, including in New York, San Francisco, and Nairobi.
Banks are being urged not to lend money to companies and projects that use fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and natural gas, according to campaigners. Over 200 countries will be expected to present strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 at the COP26 summit. The summit is viewed as critical if countries are to keep global warming far below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, as pledged in 2015.
The UK is under pressure as the host country to persuade them to make bold promises to cut greenhouse gas emissions. Ms. Thunberg said this week that she would fly to Glasgow for the summit’s “climate strike.”
She also stated in her interview that poorer countries, which are most affected by climate change, should have a larger presence at COP26. She went on to say that it was “unfair” that certain countries would send “hundreds of thousands” of delegates while countries from the so-called Global South would be “under-represented.”
She also stated that the discussions will fail if the globe “continues to ignore” industrialised countries’ “historical responsibility” to reduce carbon emissions.
President Joe Biden arrived in Europe on Friday ahead of the meeting, and the United States is considered a major factor in its success. His Build Back Better social welfare package, at $1.75 trillion (£1.2 trillion), includes more than $500 billion in green policies. Mr. Biden called the actions “historic,” but Ms. Thunberg urged the US to go even further.