COP26: Greta Thunberg tells protest that COP26 has been a 'failure'<br /><br />Greta Thunberg has told a mass rally in Glasgow that the COP26 climate summit has been a "failure".<br /><br />The Swedish activist had earlier joined thousands of young people - including striking school pupils - for a march through the city.<br /><br />She addressed the crowd when it arrived in George Square, saying "immediate and drastic" cuts to emissions are needed.<br /><br />The march was organised by Fridays for Future Scotland, a group founded by youngsters inspired by Ms Thunberg.<br /><br />It was one of the largest of a series of demonstrations that are being held throughout the summit, which is being held in the city.<br />Ms Thunberg said: "It is not a secret that COP26 is a failure. It should be obvious that we cannot solve a crisis with the same methods that got us into it in the first place."<br /><br />She said: "We need immediate drastic annual emission cuts unlike anything the world has ever seen.<br /><br />"The people in power can continue to live in their bubble filled with their fantasies, like eternal growth on a finite planet and technological solutions that will suddenly appear seemingly out of nowhere and will erase all of these crises just like that.<br /><br />"All this while the world is literally burning, on fire, and while the people living on the front lines are still bearing the brunt of the climate crisis."<br /><br />She described the UN climate change summit as a "two-week long celebration of business as usual and blah, blah, blah" to "maintain business as usual" and "create loopholes to benefit themselves".<br /><br />Ms Thunberg added: "We know that our emperors are naked."<br /><br />Activists from several other countries also gave speeches about how climate change is already affecting their homelands.<br /><br />They included including Vanessa Nakate from Uganda, who said: "Historically, Africa is responsible for only 3% of global emissions and yet Africans are suffering some of the most brutal impacts fuelled by the climate crisis.<br /><br />"But while the global south is on the frontlines of the climate crisis, they're not on the front pages of the world's newspapers."<br />The procession marched through the city's west end, past the COP26 site at the Scottish Events Campus, before heading towards the city centre.<br /><br />It ended at George Square where a stage and speakers had been erected.<br /><br />Charlie O'Rourke, 14, from Glasgow, skipped school to attend the march with his mother Cairsty and his sister.<br /><br />He said global leaders at COP26 must "listen to the people", adding: "Don't just go for profit. Listen to what the planet needs."<br /><br />His mother said she was there for her children and for "the generations to come to just show that something has to happen and it has to happen very quickly".<br /><br />Finlay Pringle, 14, from Ullapool in the Highlands, travelled by train to Glasgow with his father to take part in the march.<br /><br />
