COP27: Protestors gather on Bristol's College Green

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Liz Beth and Amy Fletcher
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Liz Beth and Amy Fletcher from Easton are mainly worried about the airport expansion

Hundreds of people gathered to protest for Climate Justice, as part of a Global Day of Action.

Campaigners came together on Bristol's College Green in solidarity with Egypt, where the government has recently banned protests.

Over 40 demonstrations were planned throughout the UK on Saturday 12 November, during the UN summit COP27 in Egypt.

Many protestors shared concerns over Bristol's airport expansion.

Television presenter Jonathan Dimbleby who was at the demonstration said: "This is not just a protest. It's a campaign saying 'there is a mega-terrible problem with climate change and it's raging towards us and we need to act'."

He addressed the crowd at the demonstration and shared his views that the expansion of Bristol Airport should "not go ahead."

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Mr Dimbleby says that people should ask themselves "do I really need to fly?"

Speaking about his career as a television reporter, Mr Dimbleby shared some of his first-hand experiences of visiting countries that affected by the warming climate: "I've seen terrible floods engulfing people's homes and destroying their lives. I've seen dead animals pile from lack of food.

"I've seen the children in Ethiopia skeletal and dead on pallets with their mother weeping beside them.

"That was 50 years ago. The potential to destroy ourselves on a much greater scale, I am certain, is there."

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Local nurse Salina Williams organised the protest on Saturday

The protest was organised by local nurse Salina Williams, who says the government have not made progress since COP 26.

Ms Williams said: "We stood here at College Green in Bristol exactly one year ago, when our world leaders met in Glasgow to discuss COP 26.

"Changes need to happen now. We need to stop fossil fuel investment, but also we are standing in solidarity with our colleagues, our friends in Egypt who are unable to protest today."

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