Extinction Rebellion: How protests will affect Londoners this weekend

Extinction Rebellion will concludes its two weeks of protests in London by taking over Trafalgar Square on Saturday.

The campaign group has frequently brought the capital to standstill over the past fortnight, with an array of high-profile stunts.

The Impossible Rebellion demonstrations have targeted London’s financial district which they say are investing in fossil fuels and contributing to the climate crisis.

Over the last two weeks, protestors closed down both London and Tower Bridge, smashed windows at JP Morgan, HSBC and Barclays, and occupied several sites across the city as part of their activism.

The City of London police have been working closely with Scotland Yard and British Transport police to ensure the “balance between the right to protest and the rights of Londoners to go about their daily lives”.

For Londoners travelling into the city this weekend, these are the areas of the city Extinction Rebellion protests will be.

Friday

Extinction Rebellion Youth Solidarity is inits fourth day of occupying the WWF offices, protesting against the treatment of indigenous groups.

Doctors For Extinction Rebellion also staged a “die-in” in front of JP Morgan Offices in Canary Wharf.

Other activists are carrying out Flood Money protests at St Paul’s Cathedral.

Saturday

Extinction Rebellion will be walking to Trafalgar Square at 1pm, for the March for Nature: Rebel for Life protests.

Activists will be accompanied by the Orchestrated Discontent punk-jazz band and XR drummers.

Extinction Rebellion has said that protestors will be taking several routes, so Londoners heading into town on Saturday need to be aware.

Roads could be blocked around Trafalgar Square and in the West End.

The group only reveals its routes at the last minute.

What have Extinction Rebellion said about the protests?

Organiser Al Chisholm has 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.”