Six people have been arrested after an Extinction Rebellion Protest at Clerkenwell Green.
The Metropolitan Police said five people were arrested on suspicion of criminal damage and one for assault after the action outside the offices of PR firm Hill and Knowlton Strategies.
Extinction Rebellion protestors targeted 13 sites in central London on Monday morning.
Activists threw black paint at the offices of firms and public bodies they believe to be “fossil fuel enablers”. At least two protestors were pictured apparenly gluing themselves to a window at the offices of Hill and Knowlton Strategies.
The environmental activist group claimed that it targeted the PR firm because it had worked for oil and gas companies such as ExxonMobil and Shell.
Sarah Hart, a spokesperson for Extinction Rebellion, said: “Today, Extinction Rebellion are sending the message that it’s time to cut the ties with fossil fuels or lose the social license to operate in the UK.”
She added: “Behind incomprehensible government decisions to double down on fossil fuel development, sign off new oil exploration licenses and allow the big energy companies to rake in record profits, lies a network of companies and organisations that are profiting from this destructive path.”
In total, the Met arrested 15 activists across London. Sites where protests took place included JP Morgan’s London HQ at Victoria Embankment, BAE Systems’ offices in Carlton Gardens, BP’s headquarters in St James’ Square and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.
The Church of England’s Westminster headquarters on Great Smith Street was also targetted.
A spokesperson for Christian Climate Action said: “The Church should be showing moral leadership in rejecting profiting from investments in companies that continue to fuel climate suffering.”
The protests come as delegations from countries across the globe are returning from Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, following the United Nations’ annual climate conference (COP27).
At the start of COP27, Antonio Guterres, the UN secretary general, warned that “we are on a highway to climate hell with our foot on the accelerator”.
Hill and Knowlton Strategies did not comment on the protest at its London offices at this time.
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