GLASGOW (SCOTLAND) The Kelvingrove Park leaves are a patchwork mix of yellow and green. They represent the balance between summer and autumn, life and death. A strong wind whipped the branches above a crowd of strikers, who gathered there to send a message for negotiators at the United Nations climate negotiations a mile (1.6 km) away: It's time to stop making promises. Climate action must begin.
As climate strikers from all over the globe met up in Kelvingrove, it felt like a reunion of old friends. Some were meeting for the first-time in nearly two years. A movement that had been gaining strength through mass demonstrations was forced to organize and scramble online by the pandemic. The Glasgow talks are continuing and vaccine access is expanding, though still unevenly, the strikes are back. As police cleared a path between Kelvingrove and George Square, the city's heart, cries of climate justice were heard from the buildings.
