Extinction Rebellion’s four-day protest comes to an end

A mass protest which the climate group has called The Big One has been taking place in the city since Friday.

Extinction Rebellion demonstrators outside the Shell Building in London (Jordan Pettitt/PA) (PA Wire)

Hundreds of Extinction Rebellion (XR) protesters have marched through central London on the last day of a four-day demonstration.

Traffic came to a halt as XR’s drum band continuously played from the Houses of Parliament to the London Eye, with the march ending at the headquarters of oil giant Shell.

It formed part of a mass protest which the climate group has called The Big One, which has been taking place in the city since Friday and has been supported by more than 200 organisations including Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth.

On Monday marchers waved signs with slogans including “I want a hot girlfriend, not a hot planet” and “fossil filth is over”.

Yaz Ashmawi, 28, a strategy and actions support member for XR, from Surrey, said the protests have been an “incredible success” with more than 200 different organisations supporting the campaign.

“Never before have so many people come to the centre of power in London to demand meaningful action for the climate emergency – it’s unprecedented,” he said.

Mr Ashmawi added: “The Government isn’t able to listen to the science, the scientific consensus is that we can no longer have any more fossil fuel infrastructure projects, period.

“What’s next is we need to figure out how to bring more people on a journey to more and more direct action.

“Real change comes when tens of thousands of people return and remain day after day [to protest].”

XR demanded the Government stop issuing fossil fuel licences, convene a climate citizens’ assembly and ultimately focus on solving the climate crisis.

The group claims that more than 30,000 people have signed up to attend the protest, which is their biggest form of action since announcing that it would drop its disruptive tactics.

Just Stop Oil members also joined the march after causing various traffic jams in London on Monday near Piccadilly Circus.

The group said their slow marches will continue to take place throughout the rest of the week.