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Greta Thunberg arrived at COP31 in Antalya, Turkey, calling the talks hypocritical and urging leaders to put people and the planet ahead of profits and power.
Climate activist Greta Thunberg arrived at the COP31 United Nations climate talks in Antalya, Turkey, on Tuesday, condemning the annual proceedings as hypocritical and urging leaders to put people and the planet ahead of profits and power.
"It’s a hypocrisy every year that the host countries are given an opportunity to whitewash themselves and we know that these negotiations are filled with lobbyists, paid by the very destructive industries which are benefiting from our extremely violent status quo," Thunberg said as she arrived. "Our political and economic systems that have become incompatible with human nature."
She warned that climate change is "threatening everything," adding that "everything and everyone we love is at stake."
"We should act to protect and benefit people rather than constantly sacrificing the global majority and the very planet we are all living on, for a fortunate few to keep making unimaginable profits and maintaining geopolitical power," she said.
The COP31 conference is being held in the Turkish resort city of Antalya following a year of deadly climate-related disasters, including heat waves and floods, and another energy shock caused by the Iran war. The talks run until November 20. COP32 is scheduled to take place in Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa, in November 2027.
COP31 co-hosts Turkey and Australia are promoting renewable energy and rooftop solar installations, but both still rely heavily on fossil fuels, especially coal, to generate electricity. Previous hosts, including Brazil, the United Arab Emirates and Azerbaijan, are major oil producers.
A key goal for Turkey is global electrification: shifting sectors such as transportation, buildings and heavy industry away from fossil fuels and toward electricity. Turkey wants electricity, preferably generated from renewable sources such as solar and wind, to account for 35% of global energy consumption by 2035, up from 23% today.
This is the first climate summit Thunberg has attended since the 2021 talks in Glasgow, Scotland, where she dismissed world leaders’ promises as "blah, blah, blah." She rose to prominence in 2018 when, aged 15, she began a solitary "School Strike for Climate" outside the Swedish Parliament. In 2022, she published "The Climate Book," outlining actions to address the climate crisis.
Youth activists welcomed her arrival. "In this time of heightened geopolitical tensions, I hope that Greta’s presence here reminds us of why we started this work in the first place: to push for meaningful change, hold decision-makers accountable, and work towards a better future for all of humanity," said Amber Turner, a 26-year-old fellow with the Alliance of Small Island States.
Qiyun Woo, a youth environmentalist from Singapore, said Thunberg’s "powerful" presence "adds to calls from a generation that inherits the consequences of these negotiations."
Thunberg’s presence at COP31 brings renewed attention to criticism that climate negotiations are influenced by lobbyists from destructive industries. Her warning that "everything and everyone we love is at stake" underscores the urgency activists attach to the talks as they continue through November 20.
Sources
This article was drafted with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. Company claims are reported as claims. Cover image is AI-generated.
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