Environmental Protest Reaches London’s Financial Center

Environmentalists, who have been demanding urgent action in the streets of London to curb climate change for several days, targeted on Friday the City of London, the heart of the UK's financial center.

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The known "Blood Money" march was directed mainly against banks that finance companies that profit from extracting fossil fuels such as oil, natural gas, and coal, Prensa Latina reported.

The financing of fossil fuels is killing the planet, Extinction Rebellion group's banners warned as they disguised as bankers with their faces and hands painted red to look like blood.

Two of the protesters scaled the entrance portico of Standard Chartered and sprayed the bank's windows with red paint. At the same time, another group did the same to the façade of the building that houses the corporation that manages the City.

We want the banks to recognize their role in the current climate crisis, a young woman who preferred to remain anonymous told Prensa Latina.

The activist assured that banking institutions such as Barclays and HSBC invest in the fossil fuel sector, being aware that oil, natural gas, and coal are among the leading environmental pollutants.

Will, who held up one end of a large banner, "Nothing is Impossible," noted the British government's goal of reducing carbon emissions to zero by 2050 is too late.

The march that disrupted the City of London on Friday was called by the British green group as part of its "Impossible Rebellion," a civil disobedience action launched on Monday after months of inactivity due to the pandemic.

The Metropolitan Police did not report the number of people arrested at the protest yet. Still, as of yesterday, when activists painted the fountain in front of Buckingham Palace red, there were around 300 detained.