Activists from around the world have taken to the stage at COP26 for a “People’s Plenary” session.
The COP26 Coalition organised the event on Friday, with one of the UN climate conference’s halls filled with hundreds of representatives from civil society groups.
A number of protests are due to take place on the final scheduled day of COP26, though the summit is expected to overrun into the weekend.
The activists at the People’s Plenary are due to march from within the blue zone to meet other groups, who are gathering outside.
A rally is expected to take place in Finnieston Street outside the venue in the afternoon.
One of those speaking at the People’s Plenary was Ta’Kaiya Blaney, an indigenous activist from Canada.
She said:
Myself and others have been criminalised by our government.
I watched (prime minister) Justin Trudeau pose for pictures with indigenous land defenders, meanwhile land defenders are taken as political prisoners back home.
Mary Church, of Friends of the Earth Scotland, said the meeting was to express “deep frustration” with the climate summit.
She continued:
We are hurtling ever closer to reaching the critical 1.5C threshold.
Climate change already impacts and threatens billions of lives.
We know everyone is suffering under the Tories - but the Canary is a vital weapon in our fight back, and we need your support
The Canary Workers’ Co-op knows life is hard. The Tories are waging a class war against us we’re all having to fight. But like trade unions and community organising, truly independent working-class media is a vital weapon in our armoury.
The Canary doesn’t have the budget of the corporate media. In fact, our income is over 1,000 times less than the Guardian’s. What we do have is a radical agenda that disrupts power and amplifies marginalised communities. But we can only do this with our readers’ support.
So please, help us continue to spread messages of resistance and hope. Even the smallest donation would mean the world to us.