Extinction Rebellion London protests: Demonstrators block Oxford Circus as pink table re-erected
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Extinction Rebellion protesters have descended on Oxford Circus, where they blocked traffic with a giant pink table, danced peacefully and heard speeches, as climate demonstrations in London continue.
Earlier, the environmental movement gathered outside the Brazilian embassy to protest deforestation and attacks on indigenous people on the third day of its Impossible Rebellion protests in the capital, due to last for two weeks.
XR is aiming to disrupt “business as usual” in London with its latest set of demonstrations as the climate crisis unfolds.
More than 100 people have been arrested since Sunday, the day before the start of the official action.
More images of Oxford Circus blockage
Daniel Keane, reporting from the scene of the Oxford Circus protest, has sent back these pictures of the activists closing the road with their giant pink table.
Protester: ‘I came here because I’ve given up all hope’
Paul Sheehy, 46, was one of four demonstrators holding a banner reading ‘Act Now’ outside the entrance to the Microsoft store at Oxford Circus.
He told The Independent he had travelled from Warrington to attend today’s protest and was “willing to go to prison” to stop climate change.
Paul, a call centre operator who has been part of XR for two years, said: “I came here because I’ve given up all hope. Lots of people think that it’s pointless to even protest now, there’s so much political apathy in the world.
“But once you run out of hope you have to try and change things. In this case it means reduce fossil fuel use rapidly - which they say is impossible but we are here to make the impossible inevitable.
“The pandemic has been so difficult for us. This is to kick start the movement again. When we’re talking to people in the public, a lot of them say thank you. But we need more people involved to make it work. We need that active engagement.
“I’m prepared to go to prison for this and I know many others are as well.”
He added: “The police have changed their tactics - they are being more harsh with us. But I imagine they’re under pressure from Priti Patel who famously doesn’t like us.
“We have no beef with the police though, we know they are just doing their jobs. They have the same concerns that we have.”
He continued: “There is only a slight change in our tactics. This week is about outreach. We want to jar people out of their ordinary lives. We want to show that breaking the law is proportionate to the level of crisis we’re facing.”
IPCC report prompted surge in XR backing, group claims
The UN’s stark report warning that climate change was already causing catastrophe around the world led to a surge of donations and support for Extinction Rebellion, one of its founders has said.
Liam Geary Baulch, who helped launch the organisation in 2018, said they saw a jump in donations after the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change document was published earlier this month.
The report explained how human activity had already pushed up global temperatures by 1.1C and was driving weather and climate extremes in every region across the world.
Mr Baulch said: “Last week £100,000 was raised in crowdfunding in just 24 hours ahead of the two weeks of protests in London.
“With the IPCC report just coming out, a lot of people have been reignited with the urgency of taking action on the climate and ecological emergency and are aware that, now it’s more safe for everyone to come to London [due to coronavirus restrictions being eased].”
He added: “We are again running groups all over the country and people are being encouraged to come down to London... When they’re here they are all involved with different kinds of protests, all with the aim of like really inviting people to get in and come and talk with us.”
Police intervene to stop protesters ‘building a structure’ at Oxford Circus
The Metropolitan Police has released a statement on the ongoing protests in the central London.
The force said on Twitter: “Officers have intervened when protestors were building a structure at Oxford Circus. Some individuals have glued themselves to the structure, specialist officers are working to support their removal.
“There will be some disruption to traffic in the area as roads are currently blocked, which we are working to reduce.”
Europe experienced hottest year on record in 2020, climate report shows
Last year was Europe’s warmest on record by a large margin, the latest in an annual series of global climate reports shows.
The average temperature in Europe in 2020 was 1.9C above the long-term average for 1981-2010, the 31st state of the climate report published online by the American Meteorological Society shows.
Parts of the continent including Luxembourg, Sweden, Finland and European Russia saw temperatures 2C or more above the average for recent decades.
Although parts of north-west Europe were relatively cooler, the UK still saw its third hottest year on record in 2020, after 2014 and 2006, with temperatures 0.78C above the 1981-2010 baseline.
The report shows the average surface temperature over land areas in the Arctic was the highest since the data record began in 1900.
Last year was also the seventh successive year annual temperatures in the Arctic were more than 1C above the average for the period 1981-2010.
UK Government boosts biomass with £4 million funding
Biomass projects throughout the UK were today awarded £4m government funding to boost biomass production.
A total of 24 projects in the field of biomass, a renewable energy source generated from burning wood, plants and other organic matter, will receive up to £200,000
Here is the story:
UK Government boosts biomass with £4 million funding
The projects include farming seaweed and growing algae from whisky manufacturing waste
Greek wildfires proof world needs radical response to crisis, says PM
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said wildfires that ripped through the outskirts of Athens and other parts of Greece this month underlined the need for radical shifts in behaviour to tackle global warming.
Everything needed to change in order to minimise the effects of the climate crisis, he told parliament on Wednesday during a debate on the wildfires and criticism of the government’s response to them.
Dealing with the crisis “is forcing us to change everything; the way we produce agricultural products, how we move around, how we generate energy and the way we build our homes,” he said.
Part of a succession of blazes that struck southern Europe during a summer heatwave, the Greek fires scorched more than a quarter million acres of pine forest, with the island of Evia and areas of the Peloponnese, including near the archaeological site of the ancient Olympics, also hit.
Mr Mitsotakis told MPs an earlier public apology for the disaster was also a call for action to become better at tackling such phenomena.
“We were called to put out 1,279 wildfires ... the majority were tackled in the beginning but some got away. Preparedness was not adequate,” he said.
Police carry dozens of XR protesters away from London demonstration
Police have taken away Extinction Rebellion protesters at a demonstration in central London.
A large group of campaigners have blocked off the surrounding roads near Oxford Circus with a pink sculpture - putting traffic at a standstill.
Protesters have formed a human chain around the area and are being cordoned off by police officers.
Dozens of them have been carried away to nearby police vans by officers, with other members of the group cheering and clapping.
Pedestrians are being urged to find another way around the area.
Demonstrators told to leave Oxford Circus
Police have warned Extinction Rebellion protesters to leave an area they are blocking in central London or face being arrested.
Using a loudspeaker, a police officer said: “You must this area immediately or you may be arrested”.
Officers have continued to detain campaigners from the area close to Oxford Circus on Wednesday afternoon.
Met Police lead protesters away
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