COP26: Protesters Fill the Streets to Raise Awareness on Climate Inaction

French activists Action Non-Violente COP21 (ANV-COP21) held a peaceful protest in George Square today, to highlight awareness of climate action and French President Emmanuel Macron breaching the Paris Climate Agreement.

Marie Cohuet, 26, from Paris, who is the spokesperson for the group, said: “Beautiful speeches - that’s climate wreckage in reality. We are French citizens, and we came all the way from France because our own president is not respecting the Paris Agreement. We just wanted to point that out.”

Protesters holding pictures and signs in George Square. Source: Sarah McCallum

In February, the French government were found guilty of climate inaction as they were unsuccessful in meeting their commitments for reducing their greenhouse gas emissions.

Cohuet is hopeful that COP26 will raise awareness around the seriousness of climate change and encourage world leaders to act against the crisis. 

She explained: “COPs are really important processes because we are facing one of the biggest challenges that humanity has ever faced, and we need a co-ordinated response to answer that. But it’s been so perverted by our world leaders.

“I hope [it will raise awareness] because he [Macron] made such beautiful speeches today at the opening of COP26. But in reality, he has been sentenced twice for climate inaction, so we’re here to show the gap between these speeches and his sabotage of climate action.”

Action not words” written on a protester’s sign.  Source: Sarah McCallum

Cohuet explained that the aim of their protest was to show the reality of hypocrisy from Macron, and to hold the world leaders accountable.

She said: “What we want to do is show this huge gap between what he [Macron] says and what he does. We will probably do other action [during] the course of the week.

“What we’re hoping to achieve is for citizens to come together and to grow bigger and go into a movement, so that we can then force our leaders to take action.”