Holding banners and chanting slogans, protesters demanded climate action. As some protesters stormed the building, those outside shouted: “Costa e Silva out!” Police officers dragged the protesters out of the building. Portuguese broadcaster RTP reported that the minister left the building through a back door. The Finance Ministry declined to comment. The protest in Portugal came as world leaders, policymakers and representatives from nearly 200 countries gathered at the COP27 UN climate summit in Egypt, where they hope to keep alive a goal to prevent the worst effects of climate change. But some campaigners don’t think COP27 will solve the problem. “The COPs are not designed to address climate change because they would need more participation from civil society, less participation from lobbyists from the mineral industry,” said Pedro Franco, a 27-year-old student. Joao Duarte, 23, also pointed the finger at governments for favoring the “monetary interests” of big companies instead of putting climate change at the top of the political agenda. “There will be no change until governments stop being best friends and allies of big business,” he said. UN experts said in a report on Tuesday that pledges by companies, banks and cities to achieve net zero emissions often amount to little more than greenwashing. “The situation is serious and urgent,” Marta Leandro, vice president of the Portuguese environmental group Quercus, said at the demonstration in Lisbon. “What we do or don’t do this decade will have a big impact on climate security.” Reporting by Catarina Demony, Miguel Pereira and Pedro Nunes in Lisbon. Editing by Diane Craft Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. Catarina Demony Thomson Reuters Portugal-based media correspondent covering politics, economy, environment and daily news. Previous experience in local journalism in the UK, she co-founded a project telling the stories of Portuguese speakers living in London and edited a youth news website.
