Environmental activist Greta Thunberg appears before a London court on Thursday for disturbing public order, after disrupting the hydrocarbon industry's high mass in the British capital in October.
The 21-year-old Swede is expected to begin her two-day trial at Westminster Magistrates Court in central London this morning.
A world figure in the fight against global warming, Greta Thunberg pleaded not guilty to public order offenses during a first hearing which took place in November, like the four other activists who appeared with her on Thursday.
She risks a maximum fine of 2,500 pounds, or nearly 3,000 euros.
Oil companies, “real climate criminals”
Activists from Greenpeace and Fossil Free London planned to once again support them in court with signs
“make the polluters pay”
, and portraits of the leaders of the big oil companies, designated as the
“real climate criminals”
.
A total of 26 activists were arrested for disrupting access to the Energy Intelligence Forum, a conference bringing together major oil and gas companies at a luxury hotel in the British capital on October 17, 2023.
That day, the activists greeted the participants with
“shame on you”
, carrying signs
“Stop
Rosebank
”
, or
“Rosebank will kill us”
, in reference to a controversial oil field in the North Sea which London has authorized operation in September.
“Behind these closed doors (...) politicians without stature make agreements and compromises with lobbyists from the destructive fossil fuel sector
,” Greta Thunberg told the press, before being put in a police van.
Concretely, the young activist is being prosecuted for not having complied with the injunction of the London police not to block the street where this rally took place.
Released under judicial supervision, the next day she took part in a new demonstration in front of the five-star hotel, with hundreds of other people.
“Contradictory messages”
In the United Kingdom, the Conservative government's reversals on key measures in the fight against the climate emergency have aroused the anger of activists.
They have filed several legal challenges and increased actions in recent months, like the Just Stop Oil movement.
In return, they attracted the hostility of the government which toughened the legislation to punish them more severely and dissuade them from taking action.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak insists that postponing some of these measures for five years, such as banning the sale of new thermal cars and oil, LPG or coal boilers, will not prevent the United Kingdom from reaching carbon neutrality in 2050.
Despite criticism, the government also chose to grant a plethora of new permits for the exploitation of oil and gas fields in the North Sea, citing in particular the energy security of the United Kingdom in the wake of the war in Ukraine.
On Monday, the independent body responsible for advising the government on its climate strategy urged the United Kingdom to demonstrate
"even stronger national ambition"
, expressing concern that the country conveys
"conflicting messages"
which tarnish its international influence on the subject.
Greta Thunberg, who gained worldwide notoriety with her
“School Climate Strikes”
started at the age of 15 in Sweden, regularly takes part in such demonstrations.
In October, she was fined for blocking the port of Malmö in Sweden, a few months after being forcibly taken away by police during a demonstration against the use of coal in Germany.
Last weekend, the activist also joined a march in the south of England to protest against the expansion of Farnborough Airport, mainly used by private jets.