Our live coverage of the climate change protest in London has ended. Scroll through the posts below to see how it unfolded or read more about it here.
Three men have been arrested on suspicion of criminal damage at the Shell Center in London’s Lambeth borough after Extinction Rebellion demonstrators glued themselves to the entry, smashed a glass door and spray-painted graffiti on the building’s exterior, the Metropolitan Police confirmed to CNN.
In a tweet, Shell UK asked protesters to keep “their safety and the safety of others in mind.”
Protesters gathered outside Britain’s Houses of Parliament said politicians should focus their energy on tackling climate change, not Brexit.
Niki Shahab and Imogen Gaskell, both students from London, told CNN politicians have been preoccupied with Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union since the country voted to leave in a 2016 referendum.
They said British politicians should really be tackling the climate crisis.
Climate activists are warning of the catastrophic effect that a global extinction of insects could have on the planet.
Andrea Cox, a careers consultant from London, joined the demonstration in front of the Houses of Parliament on Monday carrying a flag emblazoned with a bumblebee.
A report published earlier this year in the journal Biological Conservation suggested that insect populations were declining worldwide, forecasting that more than 40% of species could become extinct in the next few decades.
Insect biomass is declining by a staggering 2.5% a year, a rate that indicates widespread extinctions within a century, the report found.
Environmental group Greenpeace has lent its support to the Extinction Rebellion demonstration, sharing video of protesters gathered outside London’s Houses of Parliament.
Central London is blocked off today by thousands of protesters demanding action on climate change.
So far Extinction Rebellion, the group organizing today’s demonstrations, has counted 222 arrests since launching last year — and thousands have declared they are willing to be arrested, or even go to prison, to demand action on climate change.
Here’s how climate protesters are taking action:
Rick Guest, a demonstrator from Herefordshire in England’s West Midlands, said he had joined the protest in Oxford Circus dressed as a wizard because “this is a rebellion.”
Extinction Rebellion demonstrators descended on Waterloo Bridge with trees and flowers, setting up an impromptu garden blockade on Monday. Others set up a miniature skate park.
Photos and videos shared on social media showed some protesters outside London’s Shell Center near Waterloo Bridge on Monday.
While some demonstrators glued themselves to the revolving front door, others scrawled Extinction Rebellion’s hourglass symbol in graffiti and smeared black paint on the exterior of the building. The protesters also smashed a glass door.
A Shell spokesman told CNN: “We respect the right of everyone to express their point of view, we ask only that they do so with their safety and the safety of others in mind.”
London’s Metropolitan Police said in a statement that policing plans were in place to support public order during Extinction Rebellion demonstrations over the coming weeks, and advised those traveling in the capital to allow for extra journey time.
Demonstrators have blocked the usually bustling Oxford Circus intersection, one of five London landmarks targeted by environmental campaigners as part of the action on Monday.
Some protesters dressed in yellow paper crowns were lying in the street in a “die-in,” their arms linked through tubes. Nearby, others stood atop a pink painted sailboat emblazoned with the message, “Tell the truth,” with a flag bearing Extinction Rebellion’s hourglass logo.
Mark Ovland, one of the protesters glued to the pink boat at Oxford Circus, said he and others were trying to bring massive disruption to transport in London to “gain attention to what is the biggest crisis facing humanity at the moment.”
Thousands of people are expected to take to the streets of central London today, blocking the city’s busiest roads and bridges to raise the alarm over a mounting climate crisis.
On Monday morning, a group of demonstrators with trees, plants and solar panels in tow barricaded Waterloo Bridge, one of five locations being targeted by environmental campaigners in the city as part of the protest.
The demonstrations are part of a global campaign, orchestrated by?British climate organization Extinction Rebellion, which made headlines earlier this month when members disrupted a Brexit debate in Parliament with a?nude demonstration.
Anna Burton, from Lancashire in northwest England, said she came to the protest to call on big businesses to go carbon neutral and demand a better ecological future for her children.
Expect to see protesters gluing or locking themselves to gates, benches, turnstiles and other street furniture to bring intersections and streets to a standstill today.