Security agents are removing activists from the climate summit
Security agents have removed a large group of activists from the major international climate summit in Madrid. That happened after a protest action in which protesters demanded rapid action against climate change.
Insiders explained to AFP that the admission tickets of about two hundred protesters had been withdrawn after a noisy protest that took place in the plenary room where delegates were gathered. For several minutes, protesters chanted “now climate justice” and “shame, shame, shame”. Then security guards intervened.
Journalists were denied access to the removed protesters. The head of Greenpeace International says she was also locked out after the incident. “Demonstrators were suddenly and brutally evicted from the building. When I wanted to go back inside, I found out that the security authorities had stopped letting observers in,” says Jennifer Morgan.
In addition to representatives from nearly 200 countries, observers are also present at the UN climate summit. These include representatives of non-governmental organizations or research institutes. “We are the ones who can exert pressure and hold governments to account,” says the Greenpeace top woman.
According to Morgan, the negotiations are now in a crucial phase. “They can’t think that because they keep us out of the building, we don’t hold them responsible for what’s going on inside.”
