Exclusive: Extinction Rebellion London organisers claim they ‘didn’t want to inconvience people’

Extinction Rebellion activists claimed they “didn’t want to inconvenience people” despite bringing London to standstill in a series of protests.

However organisers said “we have to do what is necessary” in the fight against climate change.

The activists have rocked the capital for several days now, as part of a two-week series of Impossible Rebellion protests.

Protestors closed down London and Tower Bridge and blocked off the Bank of England as part of their demonstrations.

They also smashed the windows of banks JP Morgan, HSBC and Barclays.

Yet organiser Al Chisholm claimed that “no one” at Extinction Rebellion “wants to inconvenience people”.

She told LondonWorld: “I think the disruption is a really crucial part of our movement.

“No one wants to inconvenience people, but the government and the media aren’t paying proper attention to the crisis so we have to do what’s necessary.”

One of the main causes of concern for protestors is the government’s continued investment in fossil fuels.

“We just need to keep pressing our government as much as we possibly can,” organiser Clive Gilham said.

“As individuals we can all play our part but to be honest we need to change the message.

“It's all very well saying swap to electric cars but the truth is we don’t have the energy for everybody who’s got a petrol driven car to have an electric car.

“We have to get people off their individual cars and their motor vehicles and get them into a proper public transport system that serves the people.

“It's much cheaper for people and it’s better for our environment.”

Gilham - a veteran of the original Extinction Rebellion protests in 2018 - said he hopes that this fortnight of protests will result in the government creating some radical policies for tackling the climate emergency.

“The goal is to be on the streets, to raise awareness, to meet the public and to engage with them in the crisis talks,” he said.

“More radical actions have happened this week to try to tackle what’s going on in the city of London.”

The upcoming COP26 Climate Change Conference taking place in Glasgow is at the forefront of protestors’ minds.

“I’m protesting because I feel as though our government is now saying the right things about the climate emergency, but they’re not actually doing anything at all,” said organiser Jo, who didn’t want to reveal her full name.

“They’re setting targets and making speeches, but the policies the government has made are nowhere near on track for actually meeting the climate goals that we’ve set for keeping temperatures globally at a safe level.

“Our government has a really huge responsibility because the COP26 conference that we’re hosting is coming up in November and they’re basically failing us all.”

The fortnight of protests are set to conclude on Saturday 4 September.