The Swedish activist made a notable appearance in Antalya, Turkey, where the United Nations climate conference is being held , to denounce the hypocrisy of the negotiations and the control of industrial lobbies over the discussions.
Five years after Glasgow, Greta Thunberg has returned to a COP. Arriving in Antalya on Tuesday, the 23-year-old Swedish activist has lost none of her vehemence towards a process she considers structurally compromised. "It's a hypocrisy that repeats itself every year: host countries are given an opportunity to whitewash their actions, and these negotiations are riddled with lobbyists paid by the destructive industries that profit from our extremely violent status quo," she declared upon arrival.
COP31 is being held in the Turkish resort town until November 20, co-hosted by Turkey and Australia. Both countries are highlighting their ambitions in renewable and solar energy, but both remain heavily reliant on coal for their electricity production. This contradiction is one that Thunberg, like many activists present, is quick to point out, noting that previous host countries, from Brazil to the United Arab Emirates and Azerbaijan, were also major hydrocarbon producers.
The global context weighs heavily on the debates: the past year has been marked by a series of deadly climate disasters, primarily heat waves and floods, compounded by a new energy shock linked to the US-Israeli conflict with Iran . "Climate change threatens everything," Thunberg emphasized, calling on leaders to "act to protect people rather than continually sacrificing the world's majority and the planet itself, so that a wealthy minority can continue to amass unimaginable profits and maintain its geopolitical power."
Her presence in Antalya sparked strong emotions among the young delegates and climate activists gathered for the conference. Amber Turner, 26, a representative of the Alliance of Small Island States, saw it as a reminder of the fundamentals: “I hope Greta’s presence reminds us why we started this work: to push for real change, hold decision-makers accountable, and work towards a better future for all humanity.” Qiyun Woo, a Singaporean environmental activist, believes that this “powerful” presence reinforces the calls of a generation that will inherit the consequences of these negotiations.
Thunberg burst onto the international scene in 2018, at the age of 15, with her school strike for climate action outside the Swedish parliament. From Glasgow, where she dismissed the promises of heads of state as mere "blah, blah, blah," she had largely stayed away from the COPs, while continuing her activism on other fronts, from the movement for Palestine to the recent mobilizations of French students. The next climate conference, COP32, is scheduled to take place in Addis Ababa , Ethiopia, in November 2027.
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