Extinction Rebellion protests in London’s financial centre

Environmental movement Extinction Rebellion on Friday demonstrated in the heart of London against the financing of fossil fuel industries by lenders in the City, as part of two weeks of planned action.

Several hundred people marched to the beat of drums through the centre of the financial district.

The demonstrators held signs reading “no future in fossil fuels” and “stop financing climate chaos”, according to AFP journalists.

The group tweeted that they hope to highlight “the UK’s centuries-old complicity in extractive exploitation”.

Protesters stopped outside the offices of financial legal services company Maples, putting up a poster reading “built with blood money”.

“We’re targeting Maples group, they’re using tax havens so they’re not paying taxes,” said protester Trina, 47, adding that “there’s many other companies, banks, insurance companies” on their radar.

The marchers earlier threw red paint at the Standard Chartered bank offices and demonstrated outside the Bank of England.

Metropolitan Police said they made 16 arrests for a variety of offences.

Social justice group Global Justice Now said it supported Extinction Rebellion’s interventions, writing on Twitter that “these banks + corporations profit from the root causes of climate crisis.”

“Absolutely right that they are being targeted today through non-violent direct action,” added the group.

Extinction Rebellion kicked off its two weeks of demonstrations and actions in London on Monday, calling on governments to take “urgent” action against climate change.

The activist network, formed in the UK in 2018, regularly uses civil disobedience to highlight government inaction on climate change.

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