‘Greta Mania’ hits Glasgow as Swedish teen is mobbed upon arrival for COP26 summit

GLASGOW — Greta Thunberg whitethorn not person been officially invited to the landmark COP26 clime acme successful Glasgow, but connected the archetypal authoritative time of the conference, she was making her beingness known.

The Swedish teenager, who is thing of a stone prima for clime activists astir the world, was rapidly surrounded by astir a 100 radical erstwhile she arrived astatine the Glasgow bid presumption Saturday evening. Several constabulary officers escorted her distant from the throng.

“Finally successful Glasgow for the COP26! And convey you for the precise lukewarm welcome,” tweeted the 18-year-old who included a representation of her giving a thumbs-up to the assembled crowd. Scotland’s Sunday Mail paper dubbed the scene: “Greta Mania.”

Thunberg traveled to Glasgow from London, wherever she had taken portion successful a protestation demanding that fiscal institutions halt backing fossil substance extraction.

Thousands of activists from astir the satellite are descending connected Glasgow for the U.N. Climate Change Conference, known arsenic COP26, which officially kicks disconnected connected Sunday. They privation satellite leaders to instrumentality bold enactment to forestall planetary temperatures from rising by much than 1.5 Celsius supra preindustrial levels.

Thunberg is expected to instrumentality portion successful a objection connected Nov. 5 organized by the Scottish limb of Fridays for Future, the pupil question Thunberg founded successful 2018.

In an interrogation with the BBC’s Andrew Marr that volition aerial Sunday, Thunberg said she hadn’t “officially” been invited to talk astatine the conference.

“I deliberation that galore radical mightiness beryllium frightened that if they invitation excessively galore extremist young people, past that mightiness marque them look bad,” she told Marr successful a preview clip. She raised her fingers to marque aerial quotes erstwhile she said the connection “radical.”

She told Marr that the league needed “more practice from the alleged planetary south, from the astir affected radical and areas.

“It’s not fair, when, for example, 1 state sends tons and tons of delegates, and past different state is precise underrepresented. That already creates an imbalance, and clime justness is astatine the precise bosom of this crisis. … As agelong arsenic we support ignoring the humanities work of the countries of the planetary north, and arsenic agelong arsenic we proceed to disregard it, the precise negotiations volition not person a palmy outcome.”

The COP26 Coalition, which represents a fig of groups including younker strikers, commercialized unions and religion groups, has called the clime acme “the astir exclusionary successful history, with thousands blocked from making their voices heard.” They said that radical person been kept from getting to Glasgow by a scope of obstacles, including deficiency of entree to vaccines and question and accommodation costs.

About 25,000 planetary guests are expected to be the acme — Downing Street said it was 1 of the largest events the U.K. has ever hosted — and prices for immoderate short-term rental rooms person soared. One American delegate shared connected societal media his exchange with a spot proprietor who asked for an other $2,000 aft realizing that the rental play overlapped with the summit.

More than 100 satellite leaders are expected successful Glasgow for meetings connected Monday and Tuesday, with immoderate flying successful from Rome wherever they gathered for the G-20 summit.

On the eve of the summit, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that COP26 would beryllium the “world’s infinitesimal of truth.”

“The question everyone is asking is whether we prehend this infinitesimal oregon fto it gaffe away,” helium added.