Greta Thunberg calls COP26 'Global North greenwash festival'

By Aysu Bicer

GLASGOW, Scotland (AA) - Climate activist Greta Thunberg has called the ongoing UN Climate Change conference COP26 "a Global North greenwash festival."

"COP26 has been named the most excluding COP ever," the Swedish teenager expressed her anger at the climate talks on Twitter.

"This is no longer a climate conference. This is a Global North greenwash festival. A two week celebration of business as usual and blah blah blah," she said.

While greenwashing is disinformation by an organization to present an environmentally responsible public image; global north refers to the richest and most industrialized countries, which are mainly in the northern part of the world.

The 18-year-old has regularly criticized world leaders for their alleged inaction on the climate crisis.

Earlier this week, she was filmed leading a protest outside the COP26 in Glasgow, in which she used strong language.

In response to criticism, she tweeted: “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.”

In September, Thunberg addressed the Youth4Climate summit in Milan, Italy, and suggested that world leaders' climate talk amounted to "blah, blah, blah."

Critics say the COP26 could be a failure if countries do not promise enough to restrict global temperature rises to below 1.5 degrees Celsius, an apprehension also expressed by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.