Greta Thunberg walks alone as Extinction Rebellion protestors are arrested during COP26 clashes

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Greta Thunberg was seen walking alone today after promising to go ‘net zero’ on swearing as Extinction Rebellion protestors were arrested during COP26 clashes with police.

The Swedish activist, 18, strolled into a debate alone on Wednesday, much to the surprise of police and security officials who had been expecting her in a car.

Greta, who is in Glasgow to raise climate change awareness as the COP26 summit gets underway, chatted on the phone as she arrived at the meeting wearing purple trousers, a green waterproof jacket, and a colourful green face mask. 

Stella McCartney and Leonardo DiCaprio were also at the venue where the New York Times had invited her to speak.

Meanwhile, two Extinction Rebellion protestors were arrested during clashes with police officers near the SEC Centre in Glasgow on Wednesday.

Her appearance comes after Greta announced that she would go ‘net zero’ on swearing after turning the air blue on multiple occasions. 

She recently spoke about people being ‘p****d off’ by protests and was also filmed singing ‘You can shove your climate crisis up your a**e’ while outside COP26. 

But Greta, who is accompanied by PR advisers and supporters where ever she travels, today made a tongue-in-cheek pledge to compensate for her use of bad language.

She pledged to go ‘net-zero’ – a term commonly used by those aiming to balance out the harm they cause on the environment – by ‘saying something nice’ every time she swears.

Announcing her pledge to her five million followers on Twitter, the 18-year-old said: ‘I am pleased to announce that I’ve decided to go net-zero on swear words and bad language.

‘In the event that I should say something inappropriate, I pledge to compensate that by saying something nice.’

It comes after the teen campaigner was filmed leading protesters in a chant of ‘you can shove your climate crisis up your a***’ at COP26 in newly emerged video from her rally on Monday.

Outside in Festival Park, Miss Thunberg gave a passionate and foul-mouthed speech, telling demonstrators: ‘Inside Cop, there are just politicians and people in power pretending to take our future seriously… No more blah blah blah, no more whatever the f*** they are doing inside there!’

As heads of Government from around the world discussed what could be done to save the planet from ruin, the Swedish eco activist appeared to lay the blame for looming natural disasters squarely on them as she riled up her fellow activists with a chant of: ‘You can shove your climate crisis up your a***’.

A Scottish attendee had appeared to suggest singing ‘you can shove your rules up your a***’ before Miss Thunberg put her own spin on the popular melody of ‘She’ll Be Coming ‘Round The Mountain When She Comes’.

It was the second time in a week that Miss Thunberg had turned the air blue, after letting out an expletive on the BBC.

The activist was being interviewed by Andrew Marr when she was asked about the recent protests by eco-zealots Insulate Britain.

She said: ‘To make clear, as long as no-one gets hurt, then I think sometimes you need to anger some people.

‘Like, for instance, the school strike movement would never have become so big if there wasn’t friction, if some people didn’t get p***ed off.’

But the recorded pre-watershed broadcaster prompted complaints from viewers, with one saying: ‘Did Greta just say ‘p***ed off’ on the BBC several hours before the watershed? It’s not live, so not sure why the BBC didn’t edit it.’

Another insisted: ‘Erm ‘p***ed off’ is unacceptable according to Ofcom pre-watershed.’

But a third tweeted: ‘Greta saying ‘p***ed off’ on the BBC – good on you girl – getting your point over.’

The teen campaigner is due to speak tonight at a high-brow climate event with the New York Times titled ‘News Travels Fast – The Media’s Role in Covering Climate Change.’

She is speaking alongside Professor Michael Mann of Pennsylvania University, Rebecca Blumenstein the deputy managing editor of the paper and Ugandan climate justice activist Vanessa Nakate.

Elsewhere, two Extinction Rebellion activists were arrested in Glasgow after hundreds of police officers were deployed to contain protesters at the Cop26 climate change summit.

Scuffles broke out during a demonstration outside the SSE energy company near the Charing X end of the city centre.

On St Vincent Street, police and demonstrators, who brandished placards and banners, were seen clashing as world leaders met to discuss climate change at the nearby SEC Centre.

Activists tried to force their way into the building and were stopped by private security and police officers.

But the demonstrators locked themselves to each other outside.

Police said the arrests were made after officers were sprayed with paint. 

Assistant Chief Constable Gary Ritchie said: ‘During one of these protests, a number of officers were assaulted after being sprayed with paint. 

‘Two arrests have been made in relation to this so far and cans of spray paint have been seized.

‘We will protect the rights of people who wish to peacefully protest or counter-protest at COP26, balanced against the rights of the wider community.

‘We will provide a proportionate policing response to any protest and violence will not be tolerated.

‘Assaults on officers, who put their safety at risk every day to keep the public safe and have adopted a facilitative and rights-based approach to protest, is totally unacceptable.’ 

Earlier in the day, flares were also set off outside JP Morgan bank on the same city street.

Police in Glasgow had been preparing for widespread protests across the city during the three weeks that the climate change summit is underway.

An average of 10,000 officers from Police Scotland and forces around Britain will be on duty every day during the conference. 

In Glasgow, a ring of steel is being erected around the conference site on the north bank of the River Clyde as security forces brace for threats to the heads of state in attendance and potential disruption from climate change protesters.

And police will even deploy specially trained officers equipped with high-tech devices that can bring down rogue drones using electromagnetic pulses.

Police expect to make 300 arrests a day but sources warned if the number gets much higher, custody suites will be overwhelmed.

Earlier today, around 40 police, including officers from Scotland Yard, seized a giant inflatable Loch Ness Monster near COP26.

Glasgow police were joined by Metropolitan Police officers and some from Merseyside on the raid. They were backed up by coastguard personnel.

The target was the ‘Loch Ness Debt Monster’, a 13ft high and 26ft long inflatable which had been commissioned by campaigners pressing COP26 to ease debt for poorer nations. 

The giant toy had being situated beside the River Clyde – with permission – on private land owned by The Govan Wetlands Project since yesterday.

It was about half a mile from the venue for the summit, and campaigners had no plans to take it up the river. But police swooped at breakfast time and ‘arrested’ the toy. 

Senior police officers told activists from the Jubilee Debt Campaign ‘Nessie’ was being seized under section 20 of the police and fire reform act.

JDC executive director Ms Heidi Chow said: ‘I think that was completely overreaction, and over policing for a non violent harmless stunt to raise the issue of debt to address the climate crisis.

‘This is a sad reflection of the way that debt is being sidelined in the main COP26 negotiations. They told us that waterways are all restricted because of COP26.

‘It appears to me that our Nessie was seized under section 20 of police and fire reform act in suspicion of crime and that crime was simply being placed on restricted waters.

‘We were not going to take the inflatable up the river.

‘It is a bit ridiculous that there were so many police officers here. There were even some from Norfolk.’

Another activist said: ‘All we want to do is highlight the debt that nations though.

‘They seem to have bad talk about it at COP26 so at least we have a debate outside here. They didn’t need to take Nessie though.’

One activist on Twitter said: ‘We came this morning to inflate the Loch Ness Debt Monster and raise the importance of global South debt for the climate crisis.

Instead the police impounded Nessie and tried to block our message, just like debt is being blocked from the COP26 discussions!’

But asked if the number of officers who attended amounted to overkill, a Police Scotland spokesperson responded: ‘Officers seized a large inflatable due to be launched on the River Clyde as it breached the maritime restrictions in place to maintain public safety and security close to the COP26 venue.’ 

It comes as UK chancellor Rishi Sunak today unveiled wide-ranging proposals to ‘rewire’ the economy towards reducing global warming.

The package will see trillions of pounds of assets controlled by the City of London redirected away from carbon-intensive sectors like coal and oil towards initiatives such as electric car batteries.

It will also impose requirements on all UK-listed companies to set out proposals to ‘transition’ towards net zero in the coming decades, with firms assessed annually against their published plans.

Those that fail to make enough progress, or whose plans are deemed too weak, could face sanctions including fines or even removal from the stock exchange.

Critics of Mr Sunak’s plans fear they could lead to firms quitting the City of London to avoid the red tape.

The move comes after years of uncertainty for the financial centre in the wake of Brexit and the upheaval caused by Covid-19, which among other factors has seen millions of employees working from home rather than the heart of the City.  

Ministers hope the scheme will lead to a rapid shift away from investment in polluting industries and help drive progress towards the Government’s target of making the UK carbon neutral by 2050.

The Treasury said the plan would make the City ‘the world’s first net zero-aligned financial centre’.

But the compulsion is likely to prove controversial with some, and could have big consequences for firms in sectors such as oil, gas and mining – BP, Shell and mining giants Rio Tinto and Glencore are among those listed in London.

The Confederation of British Industry gave the idea a cautious welcome last night, saying that business was already ‘upping its game’. But the trade body warned it was vital ministers work with colleagues abroad to produce ‘globally consistent’ rules to prevent British-based firms being penalised.

City veteran Alasdair Haynes, chief executive of stock exchange Aquis, said it was ‘good that climate disclosures are put into companies’ reports and accounts’, but warned: ‘You have to have proportionality.

‘A lot of fast-growing companies are facing high costs to complete their reporting, especially when you look at the detail of what’s needed.’