Exclusive Video: COP26 Crazies! Climate Activists Call for ‘End of Capitalism,’ ‘Black Liberation,’ Abolition of Police

Kurt Zindulka

Climate activists demanded an end to capitalism, “black liberation”, and the abolition of police at a demonstration outside the United Nations COP26 summit in Glasgow, Scotland.

Gathering in George Square in central Glasgow on Saturday, an array of climate activists, including those from indigenous communities in South America, Asia, and Africa, came together to denounce Western imperialism and the alleged racism inherent in climate change.

Edinburgh University medical student and climate activist Mikaela Loach said that the UK government’s decision to go forward with oil exploration projects was “worse than hypocrisy”, saying that “it is violence”.

“These are last resort times,” she said demanding “audacious” action to confront the government.

“We must demand an end to capitalism. We must demand an end to white supremacy. We must demand black liberation. We must abolish prisons and the police,” she proclaimed.

“Our demands should not be toned down or palatable. They should worry, disrupt, and challenge the status quo,” Loach said.

Loach announced in May that she would be suing the British government’s Oil and Gas Authority in order to stop public subsidies for fossil fuel energy companies.

The climate activist alongside fellow campaigners, Scottish National Party (SNP) activist Kairin van Sweeden and Extinction Rebellion activist Jeremy Cox will appear before the High Court in December, where they will argue that the subsidies do not fall in line with Boris Johnson’s net-zero emissions pledge.

Researcher at the University of Strathclyde and climate activist Fraser Stewart also argued that the climate movement should not just be limited to environmental concerns, stating that “climate justice is social justice”.

“This is not just a crisis of climate or emissions, this is a crisis of justice, of inequality, of poverty, of racism, of classism, of workers’ rights, and women’s rights and every intersection in between,” Stewart explained.

Prior to the demonstration, teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg declared that “climate justice also means social justice and that we leave no one behind. So we’re inviting everyone, especially the workers striking in Glasgow, to join us.”

During her speech, the Swedish activist said that Western nations owe a “historical debt” to the so-called Global South due to the legacy of colonialism.

Following the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement in Britain last year, climate activists have noticeably begun focusing on social justice issues in an apparent attempt to bolster their numbers.

A common refrain from Extinction Rebellion rallies over the past year has been a call for Britain to pay reparations for slavery, despite the UK becoming one of the first nations in the world to abolish the slave trade and having spent vast sums of money for the Royal Navy to stamp out slavery throughout the world.

Follow Kurt Zindulka on Twitter here @KurtZindulka

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