Extinction Rebellion protest: Olympians among activists at Fawley oil refinery in Hampshire

Decarbonisation needed to limit ‘death, destruction and mass extinction’ from climate change, group says

XR protestors climbed a silo at the Fawley oil refinery in Hampshire on Thursday (Extinction Rebellion)

Climate activists from Extinction Rebellion, including Team GB Olympians Laura Baldwin and Etienne Stott, have broken into an oil refinery at Fawley in Hampshire.

The group used their pink boat — the Beverly Geronimo — to blockade the main entrance to the ExxonMobil refinery, while other protesters cut through the site’s electric fence and have climbed two 50ft oil silos, the group said in a statement.

The protesters are demanding the government stops all fossil fuel investments and are also calling for ExxonMobil to stop its expansion plans for the Fawley refinery.

ExxonMobil is a subsidiary of oil giant Esso and its Fawley site is the largest in the UK, supplying 20 per cent of UK fossil fuels, according to XR.

The activists on top of the silos carried two banners, one saying “climate emergency” and the other “no future in fossil fuels”.

“Only decarbonisation of our economies will limit the scale of death, destruction and mass extinction that climate change will bring in decades to come,” the group said.

“Extinction Rebellion’s immediate demand to government is simple: Stop all fossil fuel investment now.”

Laura Baldwin represented Team GB in sailing while Etienne Stott won gold in the C2 canoe event at the 2012 London Olympics.