Free Derry Corner gets COP26 makeover
Last updated 3rd Nov 2021
Free Derry Corner has been temporarily adapted to read 'YOU ARE NOW ENTERING CODE RED FOR HUMANITY'.
The mural in County Londonderry has been a canvass for political statements for decades and was changed last night (Tuesday) in a bid to raise awareness of the urgency of the climate crisis as world leaders continue to meet at COP26 in Glasgow.
It was created by activists from Zero Waste North West and is part of the North West Climate Coalition's actions in the build up to the Global Day of Action rally happening on November 6 at two O’clock in the city.
Jim Keys from Zero Waste North West said, “We wanted to use the wall to speak the reality behind the hype of COP 26, that our global leaders are still more focused on propping up a capitalist system that is destroying the planet than responding to the climate emergency we are in.
“As the cradle of the civil rights movement, our struggle found strength in the global solidarity it won.
“The climate justice movement is a global one, not just with people but with the ecosystems which are integral to supporting life on earth.”
This weekend rallies and marches are happening across the world.
Locally climate activists are calling on people to gather in Waterloo Place to join the global call for urgent, radical climate action.
A spokesperson from the local climate coalition said: “Only through the pressure of people taking to the street, campaigning, and mobilising for climate action, will there be the type of change needed to address the climate crisis.
“Governments have done too little too late, colluding with corporations allowing them to pollute and plunder the planet for profit no matter what the consequences are for communities and nature.”
Angela Merkel arrives at Cop26
Other prominent climate activists and leaders were taking part in negotiations. Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon met young climate campaigners Greta Thunberg and Vanessa Nakate and called on leaders to "put their egos aside" to work on the common issue of solving the climate crisis.
Boris Johnson waits to greet leaders at Cop26
Boris Johnson at the Cop26 Action and Solidarity session
Prince Charles and Joe Biden at Cop26
French president Emmanuel Macron at Cop26
Nicola Sturgeon at the Cop26 World Leaders Summit
Boris Johnson at Cop26