Swedish Climate activist Greta Thunberg does not mince her words. She has shown that she can call a spade a spade. COP26 is a global event where leaders from all over the world meet to discuss and evolve strategies to tackle climate change. Its original schedule was 2020, but coronavirus led to a rescheduling. Greta appears to be undecided on her physical presence at the event. While interacting with a section of the media, she said she might not travel to the global UN climate conference but could change her mind if it is "considered safe and democratic." She wants the authorities to ensure participants from poorer countries are fully vaccinated and able to travel.
In 2019, Greta Thunberg arrived in Lisbon for COP25 after crossing the Atlantic in a catamaran. Sky News says Greta does not believe the Scottish government is a world leader on the subject of climate change. She added that hardly any country could spell out a clear-cut strategy of how to tackle the issue.
Greta plans to travel by train to the climate conference in Glasgow
She returned to school full-time after a year. During that time, she took it upon herself to mobilize public opinion on climate change. She wanted to raise awareness among the youth who are the future. They would be at the receiving end of damages like droughts, wildfires, hurricanes, and floods with consequent loss of lives and properties.
Those who reside in coastal regions face threats of sea-level rise. It is, therefore, necessary to arrest climate change and assign top priority to it. One option is to replace fossil fuels that produce greenhouse gases with renewable energy. Some countries are trying to promote electric vehicles in a big way. Since COP26 will happen during her school holidays, Greta would travel by train to Glasgow.
That is in case she plans to attend. Sky News mentions Greta had reservations over the selection of Glasgow as the venue of COP26. Glasgow wants to pursue efforts to contain the menace of climate change. At the same time, it wants to drill for fossil fuels in one of the oil fields. It amounts to expanding fossil fuel infrastructure and contradicts the very essence of the conference.
She thinks climate change requires a physical meeting instead of a virtual one
On the subject of whether the COP26 should be in person or virtual, she indicated her preference for the former. Sky News quotes her saying: "We get much more results when we meet in person, it's hard to argue against that, but of course, if it's not considered safe, then we have to go for the safest option." She went on to add that a physical meeting could probably bring more results. In her opinion, the change will come only when people on the streets demand a change.
The conference on climate change rescheduled to November 2021
The original date of the COP26 conference on climate change was November 2020. The revised schedule is November 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic and consequent travel restrictions.
Greta Thunberg hopes to attend it. She has been campaigning for the last three years on the subject. On the third anniversary of the start of her now world-famous "School Strike for the Climate," she marked the day by launching a protest outside the Swedish parliament. There were other climate activists with her. While speaking to a section of the media, she said: "We need to begin to treat the crisis like a crisis."
