Environmental activist Greta Thunberg has been charged with disturbing public order following a demonstration on the sidelines of an oil and gas conference in London on Tuesday, British police said on Wednesday (October 18).
She is among a group of 26 people charged during a demonstration in London attended by several hundred environmental demonstrators. Activist Greta Thunberg, who was arrested by police on Tuesday, has been released under judicial supervision and will appear in a London court on November 15.
Officially, the 20-year-old Swede is being prosecuted for failing to comply with police orders not to block the street where the protest took place. Demonstrations took place outside the hotel hosting the Energy Intelligence Forum conference, which brought together executives from major hydrocarbon producing companies, but also outside the UK headquarters of TotalEnergies.
During this conference, the head of the Saudi oil company Aramco, Amin Nasser, reiterated the need to make “new investments” in hydrocarbons.
“Oil money out”
Protesters waited for participants to arrive before waving signs reading “Shame on you!” or “Stop Rosebank (a controversial North Sea oil field whose exploitation the British government approved last month).”
Nearly 20 protesters from Fossil Free London, another environmental group, staged a sit-in to block the entrance to TotalEnergies’ headquarters, using yellow smoke bombs and chanting, among other things, “oil money out” and “Stop Total,” AFP journalists reported.
The environmental activist, who is used to blockades, is not her first attempt. Just a few days ago she was sentenced to a fine in Malmö, Sweden, for “disturbing public order.” And last January she was forcibly taken away by police from a demonstration against coal consumption in Germany.