LONDON (Reuters) – Police arrested climate activist Greta Thunberg in London on Tuesday after she and others protested outside an oil and gas conference and prevented some delegates from attending, a Reuters witness said.
Thunberg became the face of young climate activists around the world after organizing weekly protests in front of the Swedish Parliament in 2018, and this year she has been arrested or removed from protests by police in Sweden, Norway and Germany.
Video footage showed Thunberg, wearing a badge bearing the slogan “Oil Money Out,” standing calmly as two police officers spoke to her. One of them was seen holding her arm. Still images showed her being searched and placed in the back of a police car.
Thunberg was protesting outside the InterContinental Hotel in Mayfair, where the Energy Intelligence Forum was hosting a gathering of oil and gas industry leaders.
[1/6]Police officers detain Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, during a protest against oil money and a fossil-free London in London, Britain, October 17, 2023. REUTERS/Toby Melville Obtaining licensing rights
She and dozens of others linked arms, blocking entrances. The police warned the demonstrators before moving to arrest them.
London’s Metropolitan Police did not immediately provide a statement about Thunberg when contacted by Reuters, but posted on messaging platform X that it had made 20 arrests in connection with the protesters outside the hotel.
Speaking earlier during the protest, Thunberg said: “The world is drowning in fossil fuels. People around the world are suffering and dying from the consequences of the climate crisis caused by these industries.”
Environmental group Greenpeace said hundreds of demonstrators took part in the protest, preventing delegates from entering the venue. She said that two of her activists climbed the building and raised a giant banner at its entrance that read: “Pay large sums of money for oil.”
A Reuters witness said that two speakers inside the InterContinental Hotel, CEO of Gunvor Trading Company Torbjörn Tornqvist, and Ben Lowcock, head of oil trading at Trafigura, were absent from the event after climate protesters blocked the entrance.
(Reporting by Toby Melville, writing by the UK bureau) Additional reporting by Marwa Rashad – Prepared by Mohammed for the Arabic Bulletin Editing by Emilia Sithole-Matarese
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