Greta Thunberg slams COP26 as ‘greenwash festival’ and ‘a celebration of business as usual’

Greta Thunberg has slammed the Cop26 climate summit as a “celebration of business as usual”.

The 18-year-old environmental activist called the meeting of world leaders in Glasgow a “greenwash festival”, claiming it’s the “most excluding” Cop summit ever.

Thunberg’s tweet follows news that she reportedly stormed out of a panel discussion with former governor of the Bank of England and UN climate envoy, Mark Carney.

Taking to Twitter, she wrote: “#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.”

Responding to the tweet, the Socialist Party echoed Thunberg’s sentiments by saying world leaders are “falling completely short of the type of immediate transition that the science demands”.

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Twitter user Malcolm Reavell also agreed with Thunberg, retweeting her post with the message: “I think this sums it up”.

Thunberg also accused fossil fuel companies and banks of giving “polluters a free pass to keep polluting” which could “trash” the 1.5 degree goal.

Since arriving in Glasgow, Thunberg has not minced her words when saying what she thinks of the summit, and those in attendance.

Speaking at a rally in Glasgow Festival Park earlier this week, she said that Cop26 is just like the previous summits so far, which have “led us nowhere”.

She accused politicians of “pretending to take our future seriously, pretending to take the present seriously” and wished for: “No more blah blah blah, no more whatever the f*** they are doing inside there.”

She later sang, in a Scottish accent, that “you can shove your climate crisis up your a***.”

Since the video of Thunberg’s impassioned rant went viral, she pledged to go net-zero on swear words.

While in Scotland, Thunberg has also rubbed shoulders with powerful leaders such as Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon.

Sturgeon said the voices of young people must be heard at the conference, adding “⁦the next few days should not be comfortable for leaders, the responsibility to act must be felt.”

The conference is one of the most important climate events since the 2015 Paris Agreement as world leaders come together to discuss how to tackle the climate emergency.

The key goals of COP26 are to secure global net-zero by 2050, keep 1.5 degrees within reach, adapt to protect communities and natural habitats, mobilise finance, and work together to deliver on climate promises.