Starting Sunday (October 31, 2021), climate negotiators from nearly every country will gather for two weeks in Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom to hammer out a new agreement aimed at cutting emissions to a level scientists hope will limit global warming, also known as United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26).

Queen Elizabeth was supposed to open it all, but canceled due to illness. William, Kate and Charles, on the other hand, they arrived. And Barack Obama. As well as the world’s richest men, like Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates.

…and Greta Thunberg then. But she is at COP26 to protest.

Image of Greta Thunberg in March 4, 2020.

Climate activist Greta Thunberg discussed EU plans to tackle the climate emergency with Parliament’s environment committee on March 4, 2020. © European Union 2020, CC BY 4.0.

In 2015, at COP21 in Paris, 197 parties agreed to establish a legal instrument that would govern climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts. This became known as the Paris Agreement. It includes overarching goals to keep global temperature rise below 2° C, with efforts to limit warming to 1.5 °C, and increase countries’ resilience to climate impacts. It also aims to ensure sufficient financing to achieve these targets. Like with most politic you only need to make an effort. I belive there should have been set a more strict goal.

So, do I agree with everything Thunberg is talking about? No, not everything. But Thunberg has some important points we should not throw under the couch. She is criticising the goals for cutting emissions which cause global warming, saying: “We don’t just need goals for just 2030 or 2050. We, above all, need them for 2020 and every following month and year to come”. Great! Now what action should be taken? That is a hard question to answer. Even Thunberg has avoided getting into the detail about that.

“We can no longer let the people in power decide what is politically possible. We can no longer let the people in power decide what hope is. Hope is not passive. Hope is not blah, blah, blah. Hope is telling the truth. Hope is taking action. And hope always comes from the people.” said Greta Thunberg

It remains to be seen how well the aims for COP26 will end up being addressed and if the effects of the conference will be stark enough to convince critics.