SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Asad Rehman giving a speech Wednesday at COP26 in which he blasted the world's richest whose "broken promises are littered across 26 COPs." (Photo: War On Want)
In COP26 Speech, Climate Justice Leader Vows Global Movement 'Will Change History'
"The era of injustice is over. We will uproot these systems of oppression with our global Green New Deal to guarantee everyone the right to live with dignity and in harmony with our planet."
Nov 10, 2021
Declaring that "it is ordinary people who change history," climate and social justice campaigner Asad Rehman on Wednesday gave a brief but searing indictment of rich nations that are "deliberately sacrificing the poor for profit."
Rehman, executive director of anti-poverty group War on Want and a spokesperson for the climate justice COP26 Coalition, delivered the remarks at a high-level segment of the United Nations Climate Change Conference underway in Glasgow, Scotland.
Just before his speech, he promised to those who marched for climate justice by the tens of thousands in the U.K. just days earlier that he would "take your demands to world leaders."
"I had a speech prepared to deliver in relation to the cover decision," said Rehman, referring to the COP26 draft decision text, "but frankly it's going to fall on deaf ears, so I won't bother."
"The richest have ignored every moral and political call to do their fair share. Their broken promises are littered across 26 COPs," he said, decrying "empty press releases drafted by polluting companies [that] no longer fool anyone."
\u201cHonestly so fed up with the lies and spin from rich countries that I decided to rip up my speech about the #COP26 cover decision at today\u2019s high level segment & bring the message from @COP26_Coalition into the halls instead \u201d— asad rehman (@asad rehman) 1636567518
Failures on Covid-19 vaccine equity and net-zero by 2050 pledges, he said, "are just the latest examples of deliberately sacrificing the poor for profit by those whose wealth was, and continues to be, looted from the Global South."
"Whilst we are frustrated and angry, we are not without hope," he continued. "We know it's ordinary people who change history--and we will change history."
"The era of injustice is over," Rehman added. "We will uproot these systems of oppression with our global Green New Deal to guarantee everyone the right to live with dignity and in harmony with our planet."
"Across COP26 we have spoken truth to power," Rehman added in a tweet. "From the streets to the High Level plenary the call for justice will be heard."
On January 20th, it begins...
Political revenge. Mass deportations. Project 2025. Unfathomable corruption. Attacks on Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Pardons for insurrectionists. An all-out assault on democracy. Republicans in Congress are scrambling to give Trump broad new powers to strip the tax-exempt status of any nonprofit he doesn’t like by declaring it a “terrorist-supporting organization.” Trump has already begun filing lawsuits against news outlets that criticize him. At Common Dreams, we won’t back down, but we must get ready for whatever Trump and his thugs throw at us. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover issues the corporate media never will, but we can only continue with our readers’ support. By donating today, please help us fight the dangers of a second Trump presidency. |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Declaring that "it is ordinary people who change history," climate and social justice campaigner Asad Rehman on Wednesday gave a brief but searing indictment of rich nations that are "deliberately sacrificing the poor for profit."
Rehman, executive director of anti-poverty group War on Want and a spokesperson for the climate justice COP26 Coalition, delivered the remarks at a high-level segment of the United Nations Climate Change Conference underway in Glasgow, Scotland.
Just before his speech, he promised to those who marched for climate justice by the tens of thousands in the U.K. just days earlier that he would "take your demands to world leaders."
"I had a speech prepared to deliver in relation to the cover decision," said Rehman, referring to the COP26 draft decision text, "but frankly it's going to fall on deaf ears, so I won't bother."
"The richest have ignored every moral and political call to do their fair share. Their broken promises are littered across 26 COPs," he said, decrying "empty press releases drafted by polluting companies [that] no longer fool anyone."
\u201cHonestly so fed up with the lies and spin from rich countries that I decided to rip up my speech about the #COP26 cover decision at today\u2019s high level segment & bring the message from @COP26_Coalition into the halls instead \u201d— asad rehman (@asad rehman) 1636567518
Failures on Covid-19 vaccine equity and net-zero by 2050 pledges, he said, "are just the latest examples of deliberately sacrificing the poor for profit by those whose wealth was, and continues to be, looted from the Global South."
"Whilst we are frustrated and angry, we are not without hope," he continued. "We know it's ordinary people who change history--and we will change history."
"The era of injustice is over," Rehman added. "We will uproot these systems of oppression with our global Green New Deal to guarantee everyone the right to live with dignity and in harmony with our planet."
"Across COP26 we have spoken truth to power," Rehman added in a tweet. "From the streets to the High Level plenary the call for justice will be heard."
Declaring that "it is ordinary people who change history," climate and social justice campaigner Asad Rehman on Wednesday gave a brief but searing indictment of rich nations that are "deliberately sacrificing the poor for profit."
Rehman, executive director of anti-poverty group War on Want and a spokesperson for the climate justice COP26 Coalition, delivered the remarks at a high-level segment of the United Nations Climate Change Conference underway in Glasgow, Scotland.
Just before his speech, he promised to those who marched for climate justice by the tens of thousands in the U.K. just days earlier that he would "take your demands to world leaders."
"I had a speech prepared to deliver in relation to the cover decision," said Rehman, referring to the COP26 draft decision text, "but frankly it's going to fall on deaf ears, so I won't bother."
"The richest have ignored every moral and political call to do their fair share. Their broken promises are littered across 26 COPs," he said, decrying "empty press releases drafted by polluting companies [that] no longer fool anyone."
\u201cHonestly so fed up with the lies and spin from rich countries that I decided to rip up my speech about the #COP26 cover decision at today\u2019s high level segment & bring the message from @COP26_Coalition into the halls instead \u201d— asad rehman (@asad rehman) 1636567518
Failures on Covid-19 vaccine equity and net-zero by 2050 pledges, he said, "are just the latest examples of deliberately sacrificing the poor for profit by those whose wealth was, and continues to be, looted from the Global South."
"Whilst we are frustrated and angry, we are not without hope," he continued. "We know it's ordinary people who change history--and we will change history."
"The era of injustice is over," Rehman added. "We will uproot these systems of oppression with our global Green New Deal to guarantee everyone the right to live with dignity and in harmony with our planet."
"Across COP26 we have spoken truth to power," Rehman added in a tweet. "From the streets to the High Level plenary the call for justice will be heard."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.