Met police made more than a dozen arrests at the protest
Greta Thunberg has been detained by police in central London during a protest organised by Fossil Free London and Greenpeace.
Pictures circulating on social media show the 20-year-old climate change activist being led away by Met Police officers, with one male officer clasping her forearm and upper arm, while a female officer held her other arm.
Video shows Thunberg being detained in a police van where an officer appears to search her clothing.
Fossil Free London suggested Thunberg has been arrested, but she did not appear to be handcuffed as she was led away from the InterContinental London hotel in Park Lane.
The Met police it had “continued discussions with the protesters and there have been interventions by officers to enable members of the public safe access in and out of the venue”.
Six people were arrested for obstruction of the highway.
The Met said it urged protesters to move from the road on tot he pavement, “which would enable them to continue with their demonstration without breaching the conditions (under the Public Order Act)”.
“A number of protesters failed to do so,” the Met said, and a further 14 arrests were made, and another for criminal damage.
It is not known if Thunberg is one of those arrested.
She was taking part in ‘Oily Money Out’ protests which coincided with the first day of the Energy Intelligence Forum 2023.
The event hosts experts from Shell, Total, Equinor, Saudi Aramco, and other oil giants.
Before being led away by police, Thunberg told the crowd: “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.”
She added: “We cannot let this continue. The elite of the oil and money conference, they have no intention of transition.
“Their plan is to continue this destructive search of profits. That is why we have to take direct action to stop this and to kick oil money out of politics. “We have no other option but to put our bodies outside this conference and to physically disrupt. And we have to do that every time, we have to continue showing them that they are not going to get away with this.”
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