COP26: Nicola Sturgeon urges protesters not to disrupt Glasgow
- Published
Protestors have already begun to make their presence felt in Glasgow ahead of COP26
Nicola Sturgeon has urged protesters targeting the COP26 climate conference not to disrupt the daily lives of Glasgow residents.
Groups like Extinction Rebellion have said they are planning high-impact actions to pile pressure on the world leaders gathering for the talks.
Opposition MSPs have called for police to take a "zero tolerance" approach.
The first minister said officers would facilitate "appropriate and peaceful protest" during the two-week event.
However, she called on activists to recognise that Glasgow residents were already putting up with disruption due to the conference, asking them not to add to it.
The UN-led summit is set to be a focal point for protests from Sunday onwards, with Greta Thunberg confirming she will take part in a "climate strike" event Glasgow on 5 November.
Climate change activists have told BBC Scotland that they will be staging further "direct action" protests in the city in a bid to put pressure on politicians to "actually listen and step up and take action".
Greenpeace has said its members will look to "have a big impact and contribute to that sense of pressure that world leaders need to feel", while Extinction Rebellion leaders said they would target "deliberate disruption where it's going to make the most impact".
Even some government ministers have said they plan to join events, with Scottish Green co-leader Lorna Slater saying that "protest is meant to be disruptive".
Greta Thunburg is to attend a "climate strike" event - like this one in Milan - during the Glasgow conference
At Holyrood, Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross said there was "real potential" for protests that "risk public safety", calling for a "zero tolerance" approach to actions that disrupt residents from going about their business.
He said: "We all respect the right of protesters to express their views, but we cannot sit back and allow deliberate and dangerous disruption of people's lives."
Ms Sturgeon said it was for police to decide how to appropriately handle protests, saying she was confident Police Scotland - which will have 10,000 officers on duty every day of the conference - would handle any issues.
She said: "The chief constable - who I will be having further discussions with over the course of today and tomorrow - has been very clear that there will be a sensitive policing operation that will do everything possible to facilitate appropriate and peaceful protest.
"But Police Scotland will respond to any protests that seek to break the law or disrupt people beyond what would be considered reasonable.
"People do want to come and make their voices heard, which is understandable given the importance of the issues under discussion.
"But I would say to people looking to come to protest in Glasgow, do it peacefully and do with with a recognition that the people of Glasgow are agreeing to host this conference and suffering some disruption because of that, so don't add to that disruption for them."
Nicola Sturgeon said police would deal with any protests which broke the law
Ms Sturgeon also said she was confident that Glasgow was ready to host the conference, after concerns around cleansing staff going on strike.
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar claimed the city was being "let down by the SNP", saying local services were struggling with "tonnes of waste piling up on our streets, fly-tipping on the rise, and over a million rats".
He said: "Glasgow deserves better - Nicola Sturgeon is lecturing the world on the global environment while cutting cleansing budgets and neglecting the local environment."
The first minister said: "I don't shy away from the problems and challenges that cities like Glasgow - it is not unique here - face in the times we are living through right now.
"But nor will I stand here and allow Glasgow, one of the greatest cities in the world, to be talked down for political purposes."
