With world leaders in Glasgow to negotiate on climate change in COP26Some children went out of their way to make sure politicians heard their message: Actually act to save the planet and its future.
Two brothers from Germany calling themselves Climbing Kids, or @kletterkinder on Twitter, secured from the Clyde Arc Bridge near the UN climate conference center Monday afternoon, hanging at least 30 feet above the river for quite some time as water rescue teams circled below.
Police responded strongly and closed the bridge to vehicular traffic as crowds of onlookers gathered along the railing after Zozo, 10, and his brother Kiwi, 12, unfurled a large white banner displaying it said “Humanity is failing.”
In a video message recorded while hanging suspended on their computer, the children said humanity and politicians are running on the brink of climate change.
“We do not accept the reality of the climate crisis,” said Zozo.
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“We are running towards a wall, and our politicians are celebrating that they want to stop behind the wall.”
Adults may worry about high fuel prices, he said.
“But we are concerned about what the collapse of human civilization means for our lives,” added Zozo.
His older brother Kiwi noted that a cascade of tipping points will be unleashed once the 1.5C threshold for global warming is reached.
“Millions of people will die and billions will lose their homes or will not be able to feed their families,” he said.
“They are letting us sleepwalk towards the collapse of our own civilization,” said 12-year-old Kiwi protester from @kletterkinder of the failure of world leaders to act on the climate crisis while suspended from a bridge in the summit # COP26.
The children were safely taken off the bridge, but two 40-year-old adults were allegedly arrested in connection with the protest.
It is not the first time that children use their skills to push politicians to act, a spokesman for the children and their parents they said.
The brother and sister, and their parents, are highly experienced professional-level climbers, he said.
The couple have organized a series of protest escalations at Berlin’s iconic Brandenburg Gate during the climate action strikes.
At age 8, Zozo perched on a lamp post in the COP25 conference in Madrid, Spain, in 2019, equipped with a flag adorned with the famous question by renowned youth activist Greta Thunberg: “How dare you?”
Politicians have been saying they will address climate change since the last summit in Madrid, Kiwi said.
“But they are not.” “They are lying to us; they are still selling our future.
“They are letting us sleepwalk toward the collapse of our own civilization.”
“This is how humanity is failing. We are failing as a species. “
Neither Zozo, Kiwi nor their parents could be reached for further comment after the protest and before the publication deadline of National Observer of Canada.
Rochelle Baker / Local Journalism Initiative / Canada National Observer
Reference-www.nationalobserver.com