Greta Thunberg brands UN climate summit 'a failure'

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg takes part in a protest at Festival Park in Glasgow on the sidelines of the COP26 UN Climate Summit on November 1, 2021. More than 120 world leaders meet in Glasgow in a "last, best hope" to tackle the climate crisis and avert a looming global disaster. (Adrian DENNIS / AFP)

(AFP) - Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg on Friday branded the UN climate summit in Glasgow a "failure" after a week of negotiations produced what some experts have called vague promises to cut emissions.

"It is not a secret that COP26 is a failure," Thunberg told thousands of youth protesters at a march in the Scottish city.

She called the COP26 talks "a two-week long celebration of business as usual and 'blah, blah, blah'."

"This is no longer a climate conference. This is now a global greenwashing festival," Thunberg told cheering crowds.

Delegates from nearly 200 nations are gathered at the COP26 summit to hash out the details of the 2015 Paris Agreement, which aims to limit global temperature rises to between 1.5 and 2 degrees Celsius through sweeping emissions cuts.

The first week saw announcements by some countries to phase out coal use and to end foreign fossil fuel funding, but there were few details on how they plan the mass decarbonisation scientists say is needed.

"They cannot ignore the scientific consensus and they cannot ignore us," said Thunberg.

"Our leaders are not leading. This is what leadership looks like," she said gesturing to the crowd.

© Agence France-Presse