Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg was mobbed by press and delegates as she made her first visit to UN climate talks in Madrid.
Ms Thunberg joined a youth demonstration inside the conference which was quickly swamped by spectators eager to catch a glimpse of Greta.
Amid shouts of “leave her alone” from concerned observers, she was escorted away by UN security staff.
She is due to take part in a climate protest march in Madrid later.
Ms Thunberg has arrived in Madrid following a voyage across the Atlantic by yacht.
The hope among many here is that the scale of the march and her speech to the COP next week will give a big boost to the talks process that seems badly in need of a lift.
This COP started with great hope last Monday, with strong words from the UN secretary-general and others, warning that time is running out and that negotiators should be guided by the science.
Since then, the urgency has given way to frustration.
Little obvious progress is being made on the central question of raising countries ambitions to cut carbon.
Indeed, the UN climate chief Patricia Espinosa said the issue of increased pledges wasn’t even on the agenda for the final outcome from this conference.
“We don’t have in the agenda one item that’s called ‘ambition’ and, therefore, it’s not like we are expecting to have a specific decision on that.”
In the face of several recent scientific reports stating that countries were falling further behind when it comes to meeting the Paris agreement targets, this was a little disturbing to say the least.
According to some experts at these talks, extra ambition would be great but equally important would be a firm timetable to deliver their pledges over the next 12 months, ahead of the Glasgow COP this time next year.
Right now, that’s not certain.
“It would be extremely concerning if the countries here in Madrid did not agree that there is a timeline for next year in coming forward with their commitments,” said David Waskow from the World Resources Institute.
“That is a key outcome that we have to see here. It is not something that you can keep punting further and further away, this is something that requires immediate action.”
Even the Pope is concerned.
“We must seriously ask ourselves if there is the political will to allocate with honesty, responsibility and courage, more human, financial and technological resources to mitigate the negative effects of climate change,” Pope Francis said in a message to participants here.
Much of what happens in Madrid could be governed by what happens in Brussels next week where a European Green Deal is set to be outlined by the incoming EU Commission.
“What the European Union does next week is a critical signal to the rest of the world that will shape the outcome in Madrid,” said David Waskow. “What happens in Brussels will resonate in Madrid.”
Another ongoing issue that is making people upset here is the question of climate justice.
Much attention has been focussed on the attempts by poorer countries to finally get some traction around the question of loss and damage, the impacts of climate change from events that just can’t be adapted to, such as sea-level rise or storms made more likely by rising temperatures.
The hope from many is that here in Madrid, the developing nations would be heard and a mechanism with funding would be set up to deal with loss and damage.
Again, there’s been very little progress.
Of course the question of climate justice is not just between countries but often within countries as well.
“The ones who contributed the most are the ones who feel the impacts the least,” said Isadora Cardoso from campaign group GenderCC – women for climate justice.
“Even within developed countries the poorest are the most affected whenever there are climate disasters or impacts, but they are not the ones who consume more and contribute the most to the causes of climate change.”
There is still time to ensure a strong outcome in Madrid and the arrival of ministers next week will increase the sense of urgency – but right now there’s a big disconnect between the size of the task and the willingness of countries to step forward with the pledges and the money needed to deal with the biggest challenge facing Planet Earth.
