COP26: Swedish activist Greta Thunberg in London ahead of climate summit

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg has arrived in London ahead of the UN COP26 climate summit, which opens in Glasgow on Sunday.

The 18-year-old joined protesters outside the Standard Chartered bank, in the City, today, lobbying the government against the use of fossil fuels.

The Day of Action protests are taking place across 26 different countries, demanding the global financial system stop putting money into the use of fossil fuels.

The award-winning activist also spent the morning at the Natural History Museum, where she met the beetle, Nelloptodes gretae, which was named in her honour.

She also explored the museum’s display dedicated to the planetary emergency - Our Broken Planet: How We Got Here and Ways to Fix It.

Ms Thunberg has confirmed that she will be attending a Climate Strike at Kelvingrove Park in Glasgow, next Friday November 5 during the COP26 talks.

She has invited railway staff, council cleaners and refuse workers, who plan on striking during COP26, to join her.

Speaking ahead of the summit she said that “change is possible, if pressure on politicians is maintained.”

Ms Thunberg also revealed that she had not been officially invited to speak at the event in Glasgow.

Today’s protests have come about after it was revealed that banks have paid £2.7 trillion in fossil fuel extraction since the 2015 Paris agreement, where world leaders committed to limit the rise in global temperatures to 1.5C and reach net zero emissions by 2050.

Joseph Sikulu, from Pacific Climate Warriors, said: “Financial institutions that continue to invest in dirty fossil fuel projects are also investing in the destruction of our islands and our homes.

“It’s time for the corporations who have caused this crisis to be held accountable.

“The science is clear. We need to do everything we can to limit global warming to 1.5C, the survival of our islands depends on that.

“To get there we need to defund the climate chaos.”

Leaders including Prime Minister Boris Johnson will travel to Glasgow on Monday to discuss how best the world can work together to tackle the climate emergency.

The COP26 conference, which will run from October 31 to November 12, will see more than 200 countries asked to set out their plans to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.

The summit is being billed as the best chance to implement the 2015 Paris Agreement to keep global warming below 2C.

A recent LondonWorld investigation found that London councils invested more than £1billion in fossil fuel industries through pensions last year.

Research shows every local government pension fund invested in coal, oil or gas last year, despite 29 of the 33 local authorities declaring a climate emergency.

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan also told LondonWorld exclusively that he expected climate change to cause “frequent and more intense flooding” in the capital.