Activists Shut London’s Tower Bridge Before Mass Climate Protest
Climate activists from Extinction Rebellion on Tower Brigde, in London. Photographer: Ben Stansall/AFP/Getty Images
Supporters of the environmental action group Extinction Rebellion blocked London’s Tower Bridge on Friday, a day before mass protests are scheduled to sweep the U.K. capital.
Demonstrators hung a giant banner carrying the slogan “End Fossil Fuels Now” from the bridge, bringing traffic across a main gateway to the City of London to a standstill. Two people used suspension cords to abseil from the London landmark and release red flares.
The protest comes a day after U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak asked the Bank of England to support the government’s new energy strategy, including investment in North Sea oil and gas projects. Extinction Rebellion wants the government “to end all new fossil fuel infrastructure immediately” and will continue protesting until then, the group said in a statement.
It plans to conduct “regular trainings in nonviolent civil disobedience and resistance tactics” before marching into London to block areas of the city for as long as possible, it said.