THE COP26 summit in Glasgow has attracted climate campaigners from across the world to make their voices heard on the global stage.
Activists have been looking for eye-catching ways to catch the attention of attendees and the public.
Protesters from the Gastivists Network, which campaigns against the extraction of natural gas, certainly got the attention of COP26 officials during a demonstration in Glasgow on Tuesday night.
The group projected messages such as “Leave methane in the ground” and “Ban fracking now” on the side of the SEC Armadillo, which is being used to host the climate conference.
[BREAKING] Activists use a huge projector on the #COP26 venue because the #MethanePledge is NOT ENOUGH
— Gastivists Network (@gastivists) November 10, 2021
The negotiations are failing to deliver real action. The ask is simple: stop extracting fossil fuels now, not in 2050#CutMethaneEU #MethaneLeaks pic.twitter.com/XFvVzcGWzl
However, the activists got more than they bargained for when staff at the Glasgow landmark fought back with projections of their own.
Initially, they tried changing the colour of the light display on the Armadillo to obscure the protesters’ message.
Yet that only seemed to highlight the environmental slogans.
READ MORE: Nicola Sturgeon warns climate crisis is 'feminist issue' at COP26
Eventually, Armadillo staff resorted to projecting “go away!" all over the building in an attempt to dissuade the “gastivists” – who at this point were in hysterics.
Protester Tommy Vickerstaff explained what happened after the Armadillo projectionist initially tried changing the colour on the building.
“Realising that wasn't deterring us, they animated the background and that didn't work either... which lead to the moment that #Cop26 decided to write the words "GO AWAY" over our projections, and more specifically, over their own venue!” Vickerstaff tweeted.
BEST BIT
— Tommy Vickerstaff (@VickerstaffT) November 10, 2021
Realising that wasn't deterring us, they animated the background and that didn't work either...
which lead to the moment that #Cop26 decided to write the words "GO AWAY" over our projections, and more specifically, over their own venue!
Sound on for absolute hysteria pic.twitter.com/X8CWpqP5mL
And finally left us at a point where, after some very weird decision making on how to respond to our projections, the side of the #COP26 venue looked like this.
— Tommy Vickerstaff (@VickerstaffT) November 10, 2021
I haven't stopped laughing since. You're welcome. pic.twitter.com/1TMotfoD0j
Activist Graeme Eddolls described it as “one of the funniest” nights at COP26.
He added: “We ended up in a projection fight where the official projectionist only ended up drawing more attention to our action and then came out and congratulated us.”
I can now reveal last night's action as one of the funniest of #COP26. We ended up in a projection fight where the official projectionist only ended up drawing more attention to our action and then came out and congratulated us 🤣 pic.twitter.com/gyiQAHlEGq
— Graeme Eddolls (@GEddolls) November 10, 2021
Of course, the demonstration was underpinned by an urgent demand for action.
“The negotiations are failing to deliver real action,” the Gastivists Network explained. “The ask is simple: stop extracting fossil fuels now, not in 2050.”
Neal Huddon-Cossar, a spokesman for Gastivists, said that the official projections on the side of the Armadillo had ended when they started their action, but that the operators had still been present.
After the struggle over projections, he said the two operators had come out and joked with activists: “They were actually quite friendly and they were in good spirits and they congratulated us.
“It was quite confusing because it contrasted with their attempts to shut down our (demonstration).”
Huddson-Cossar described the projector face-off as “quite surreal” but added that it was one of a number of cases where activists had been silenced over the course of Cop26.
A spokesman for COP26 said: “A third-party supplier is responsible for delivering projections at the COP26 site and we are speaking to them about this.
“This response was not authorised by COP26.”
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