Climate protesters have glued themselves to the walls of the London Stock Exchange in the latest protest by the ‘Extinction Rebellion’ group.
The protesters, waving banners with slogans such as “Business as Usual = Death”, have secured themselves to the walls of the stock exchange and also blockaded the headquarters of the Goldman Sachs bank on Fleet Street. Meanwhile, further protests have been staged across London with protesters blocking roads in Bank and at Southwark Bridge, reports the BBC.
TOPSHOT – A climate change activist skateboards as demonstrators block the roads around the Bank of England (L) in the City of London financial district in London on April 25, 2019, during environmental protests by the Extinction Rebellion group. – Environmental protesters caused disruption in London’s financial district, including at the London Stock Exchange where activists glued themselves to the entrance, before winding up days of demonstrations that have blocked parts of the British capital. (Photo by Ben STANSALL / AFP)
The protests have so far lasted ten days and seen over 1,100 arrests made. They have also seen many parts of London closed off or shut down. Activists climbed on top of buses, handcuffed themselves to vehicles, glued themselves to office buildings, and lay in the middle busy roads during the week and a half of civil disobedience.
Among other events during the series of protests was a ‘die in’ at the Natural History Museum and an attempt to disrupt flights at Heathrow Airport. In the latter instance, many younger protesters were reported to be crying at the threat of arrest for their actions.
On Tuesday, the Extinction Rebellion group welcomed 16-year-old Swedish schoolgirl Greta Thunberg to the protests. Thunberg began a series of school strikes for climate change in Sweden and has become the de facto poster girl for the new environmentalist movement. On Tuesday, she met with fawning politicians including Jeremy Corbyn, Michael Gove, and Vince Cable.
Police officers remove climate change activists from the road around the Bank of England in the City of London financial district in London on April 25, 2019, during environmental protests by the Extinction Rebellion group. – Environmental protesters caused disruption in London’s financial district, including at the London Stock Exchange where activists glued themselves to the entrance, before winding up days of demonstrations that have blocked parts of the British capital. (Photo by Ben STANSALL / AFP)
Thunberg has also recently met with the Pope, addressed MEPs in the European Parliament, and even reportedly been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by politicians in Norway.
Some travelled extremely long distances to attend the protests. While Thunberg spent two days travelling by train to reach London from Sweden, actress Emma Thompson flew 5,400 miles so she could recite a poem called “Mother Earth Is Not Your Slut” to the crowd. Her flight is estimated to have used up to 1.67 tonnes of CO2, something that environmental campaigners are believed to generally oppose.
A closing ceremony for the protests will take place at Speakers’ Corner in Hyde Park Thursday afternoon. A spokesman for the protest said, “We will leave the physical locations but a space for truth-telling has been opened up in the world.”