Eco-warrior Greta Thunberg charged over protest outside energy conference
ECO activist Greta Thunberg was charged yesterday over a protest outside an energy conference.
Police held her at a rally on Tuesday outside the InterContinental Hotel, central London, where senior oil company executives were meeting.
The Swede, 20, was charged with obstructing a public highway and bailed to appear at Westminster magistrates’ court on November 15.
Police gave her address as Dorset, where she is thought to be staying.
She was one of 26 people charged over the demo organised by Fossil Free London.
At the demo she had told cameras: “The world is drowning in fossil fuels. Our hopes and dreams are being washed away by a flood of greenwashing and lies.”
Eco-warriors blocked access to the hotel by sitting and standing on the pavement near the entrance.
Thunberg was photographed being led away by officers and put into a police van with others.
Earlier she addressed cameras, saying: “The world is drowning in fossil fuels. Our hopes and dreams and lives are being washed away by a flood of greenwashing and lies.
“It has been clear for decades that the fossil fuel industries were well aware of the consequences of their business models, and yet, they have done nothing.
“The opposite – they have actively delayed, distracted and denied the causes of the climate crisis and spread doubts about their own engagement in it.”
Thunberg became a global icon aged 15 in 2018 after skipping school until the Swedish election to influence the outcome and also forcing her family to change their lifestyle and reduce carbon footprints.
She protested outside the Stockholm parliament to force the country to comply with the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement.
The magnetic youngster poured scorn on world leaders at a UN climate conference in 2019 and became a role model for millions of teenagers.