Greta Thunberg’s Activists Push for More at Madrid Climate Talks

(Bloomberg) -- Madrid’s fairground this week became the world capital for climate activists, who are deploying a dizzying array of ideas and strategies to fight global warming.

More than 26,000 people are signed up to attend the United Nation’s COP25 meeting, taking place beneath floating umbrellas and vertical flower gardens at the Feria de Madrid. It could be the biggest gathering since the landmark Paris Agreement in 2015.

It follows a series of scientific reports that show nations aren’t doing enough to avert a devastating increase in the Earth’s temperature. It’s also flavored by a wave of protests, including millions of kids skipping school and episodes where activists blocked traffic in more than a dozen cities.

Political rhetoric is heating up as emissions and temperatures continue to rise. Inside spacious halls the size of airplane hangers in the Spanish capital, a barrage of exhibits reminds delegates of the superstorms, famines and flooding that will occur should they fail at their task.

“Without the people protesting in the streets the negotiations wouldn’t have as much drive,” said Karina Kolbrun, a delegate from Denmark attending her sixth COP meeting. “It feels like this is far away from the streets, but for all of us here, the people protesting are present.”

The meeting is like a giant political negotiation attached to a trade fair and camp for activists. It’s centered around a complex web of political discussions, which this year are aimed at writing carbon market mechanisms into the landmark Paris Agreement on climate change agreed in 2015. COP25 also is a gathering point for protesters, lobby groups and companies hoping to influence policy.

Greta Thunberg, the student activist who has become an emblem of the protest movement, arrived in Madrid by train from Lisbon early on Friday. She was received by dozens of journalists at Chamartin station and headed to the COP25 site. There, she met with young activists as the Fridays for Future movement prepares to stage a weekly march starting at 6 p.m. at the city’s Atocha train station.

Dozens of TV cameras and curious observers followed Thunberg during her visit. She attracted the most attention than any other visitor in a conference mostly focused on technical discussions.

Across the hall from an Indian pavilion decked with neon sculptures of Gandhi, conference organizers publish daily updates of “approved actions” by protesters looking to make a point. Performers at a sing-along for sustainability jostle with advocates for nuclear power and indigenous youth voices for attention.

Several African countries have registered the largest contingents this year while Spain, the nominal host, has the third biggest delegation of 172. Meanwhile the world’s worst polluters China and the U.S. have sent teams of 78 and 75 respectively to the talks.

“I came here to learn from others,” Lucia Mosongo, a 31-year-old participant from Cameroon and a member of the Catholic Youth Network for Environmental Sustainability in Africa. “Over the few days I have noticed many things that will help me help my own people fight climate change.”

Pavilions like the “Co-Creative Reflection and Dialogue Space” and “Resilience Frontiers” cater to delegates looking to swap strategies and explore ways to adapt to climate change. For some adventure, participants can enter a “pollution pod” to feel what it’s like to breath filthy air for a few seconds.

The broad interest in this year’s talks may surprise some diplomats focused on the nitty-gritty details of the meeting, which are technical and won’t move the needle on global warming in the near term.

The discussions that have grown up around COP have moved further away form the core issues of the original conference allowing a more diverse conversation that a decade ago would’ve been unthinkable, said Fiji’s Tamani Rarama.

“COP has definitely changed and become more broader,” the 26-year-old observer focusing on women and gender diversity. “Now we’re talking about women, girls, LGBTIQ people, sex workers and people with HIV and their experiences in climate disasters.”

--With assistance from Demetrios Pogkas.

To contact the reporters on this story: Jeremy Hodges in London at jhodges17@bloomberg.net;Laura Millan Lombrana in Santiago at lmillan4@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Reed Landberg at landberg@bloomberg.net, Jonathan Tirone

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