Rally against Australia's climate policy

More than 1,000 people protested on Saturday in the Australian cities of Sydney and Melbourne against the government's climate policy and the strategies it offered at the UN climate summit in Glasgow.

At Sydney's first legal protest after months of lockdown from COVID-19, around 1,000 people marched in support of the Global Day of Action for Climate Justice, a worldwide movement mobilized during the COP26 conference.

"We're all out here to show that we want more from our government," said Georgia, one of the protesters.

The protesters carried signs reading "We need human change, not climate change" and "Code Red for Humanity", as seen in the media.

At the two-week meeting in Glasgow, there were a week of government speeches and pledges to phase out coal, cut emissions of the strong greenhouse gas methane and reduce deforestation.

However, Australia has turned down the global methane pledge, and activists and interest groups have been unimpressed by pledges from other leaders.

"The COP26 agreements have been made and things are not looking good for Australia at the moment," added Georgia, the Sydney protester, who gave only one name.

The protest in Melbourne was smaller than that in Sydney. Only a few hundred people came to a rally where a giant koala bear blew smoke and protesters disguised as skeletons rode bicycles.

Several smaller events took place in other parts of Australia.

Swedish teen activist Greta Thunberg was among the thousands of young activists who demonstrated in Glasgow on Friday calling for urgent action.