LONDON - Climate activist Greta Thunberg was detained by police in London on Tuesday, after she addressed protesters at a demonstration against oil and gas companies in the centre of the city.
Thunberg, who became the face of young climate activists worldwide after staging weekly protests in front of the Swedish parliament in 2018, has this year been detained by police or removed from protests in Sweden, Norway and Germany.
Video from the venue of the annual Energy Intelligence Forum showed Thunberg, wearing a badge with the slogan “Oily Money Out” standing calmly as two police officers spoke to her. One was seen holding her arm.
The Metropolitan Police did not immediately provide a statement when contacted by Reuters.
The environmental group Greenpeace said two of its activists scaled the Intercontinental Hotel in Mayfair and unfurled a giant banner over the entrance reading “Make Big Oil Pay” in protest against the gathering of oil and gas executives, including Shell CEO Wael Sawan, taking place inside.
The group said hundreds of demonstrators had gathered to protest against the influence of the fossil fuel industry on UK and global climate politics, blocking entrances and preventing delegates from entering.
Further protests are planned throughout the three-day event, Greenpeace said.
“Oil bosses are toasting each other in a luxury hotel and plotting how to make even larger profits, while millions struggle to rebuild after a summer of extreme weather,” said Maja Darlington, a campaigner at Greenpeace UK.
The energy transition will be a topic of discussion at this year’s conference, which used to go by the name “Oil and Money”. Climate change is a subject that carries extra urgency after several months that shattered temperature records and just a few weeks before crucial climate talks in Dubai.
The conference also comes at a turbulent time for global energy markets, with the conflict between Israel and Hamas renewing fears about Europe’s winter gas supply, while also boosting prices and raising oil majors’ share prices.
Oil demand is showing robust growth, but there has also been extra supply, despite the cuts from some members of the Opec+ alliance, said Russell Hardy, CEO of the commodities trading group Vitol.
“There is supply around. The US is doing well, Guyana is doing well. and generally the Opec grouping is doing well when you consider Libya, Venezuela and Iran,” he told delegates.
Hardy sees oil trading around $85 a barrel next year, not far off current levels.
The chief executive of the oil giant Saudi Aramco, meanwhile, said that this year’s COP28 UN climate conference should focus on cutting emissions from hydrocarbons, rather than reducing their production.
“The focus should be on emissions. Today the focus is not purely on emissions, it is: we need to either shut or slow down big time your conventional (energy),” Amin Nasser told the gathering.
Renewables alone cannot shoulder the burden of global energy demand, he said, adding that cuts to oil and gas production would result in energy shortages and price spikes.
The focus at the climate conference that will open in Dubai on Nov 30 should be on adding carbon capture and storage and improving the efficiency of hydrocarbon production to reduce their emissions, Nasser said.
On Monday, climate ministers from the European Union said they would push for a world-first deal to phase out CO2-emitting fossil fuels at COP28.
However, countries are far from bridging the gap between those demanding a deal to phase out fossil fuels and nations insisting on preserving a role for coal, oil and natural gas.
Scientists say the world needs to cut greenhouse gas emissions by around 43% by 2030 from 2019 levels to stand any chance of meeting the 2015 Paris Agreement goal of keeping warming well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.