More than 100 people arrested as climate protests bring London to standstill

Thousands of activists led by Extinction Rebellion have blocked major roads in London to demand action on climate change, and promised to keep it going for a week.

Activist protest at the Parliament Square demanding for urgent Government action on climate change, the protest was organised by Extinction Rebellion.

Climate change protests have been happening all over the world. Source: SIPA USA

More than 100 people have been arrested in ongoing climate change protests in London that brought parts of the British capital to a standstill, police said on Tuesday.

Demonstrators started blocking off a bridge and major central road junctions on Monday at the start of a civil disobedience campaign that also saw action in other parts of Europe.

The protests were organised by the campaign group Extinction Rebellion, which was established last year in Britain by academics and has become one of the world's fastest-growing environmental movements.

Pedestrians walk over Waterloo Bridge during climate change protests in London, Britain, 16 April 2019.
Pedestrians walk over Waterloo Bridge during climate change protests in London, Britain, 16 April 2019. Source: EPA


London's Metropolitan Police said that by early Tuesday 113 adults had been arrested.

The figure includes three men and two women who were arrested at the UK offices of energy giant Royal Dutch Shell on suspicion of criminal damage. Campaigners daubed graffiti and smashed a window at the Shell Centre building.




The majority arrested were seized for breaching public order laws and obstructing a highway.

The protest saw more than a thousand people block off central London's Waterloo Bridge and lay trees in pots along its length. Later, people set up camps in Hyde Park in preparation for further demonstrations throughout the week.

Police restrictions

The police have ordered the protesters to confine themselves to a zone within Marble Arch, a space at the junction of Hyde Park, the Oxford Street main shopping thoroughfare and the Park Lane street of plush hotels.

Police on Waterloo Bridge during climate change protests in London.
Police on Waterloo Bridge during climate change protests in London. Source: EPA


"The information and intelligence available at this time means that that Met (police) feels this action is necessary in order to prevent the demonstrations from causing ongoing serious disruption," the police said.

The group wants to governments to declare a climate and ecological emergency, reduce greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2025, halt biodiversity loss and be led by new "citizens' assemblies on climate and ecological justice".

Spokesman James Fox said the group had attempted to maintain a blockade overnight at four sites in central London before the police came to impose the new restriction.

Environmental activists are seen holding a banner that says life or death during the demonstration.
Environmental activists are seen holding a banner that says life or death during the demonstration. Source: SIPA USA


People were arrested "mostly at Waterloo Bridge where the police came to try to stop everyone, but there were too many of us", he told AFP.

Fox said the protesters attached themselves to vehicles and to each other using bicycle locks.

"We have no intention of leaving until the government listens to us," he said.

"Many of us are willing to sacrifice our liberty for the cause."


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Source: AFP, SBS


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More than 100 people arrested as climate protests bring London to standstill | SBS News