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Climate Activist Greta Thunberg on Trial in London for Blocking Oil and Gas Conference
February 1, 2024
Climate activist Greta Thunberg went on trial on Feb. 1, 2024, for refusing to leave a protest that blocked an entrance to an oil and gas conference in London in the Fall of 2023. The 21-year-old was arrested on Oct. 17 for preventing attendees from entering the Energy Intelligence Forum.
Reuters reported that Thunberg was one of five defendants blocking the InterContinental hotel entrance in Mayfair. All have pleaded not guilty to not adhering to a senior police officer’s request to move their protest to a designated area near the conference. If charged, Thunberg and the other protestors will face a fine of $3,160 each.
Thunberg was arrested and later released on bail. The next day, she took part in yet another demonstration.
Thunberg spoke to reporters outside the courtroom. She said, “Even though we are the ones standing here and climate, environmental and human rights activists all over the world are being prosecuted, sometimes convicted and given legal penalties for acting in line with science, we must remember who the real enemy is.”
She continued by saying, “What are we defending? Who are our laws meant to protect?”
Inside the courtroom, a police officer testified to his experience during the protest, according to ABC News. Superintendent Matthew Cox said that Thunberg and her fellow protestors were creating a “deliberate” attempt to prevent access to the hotel for attendees.
In October, Thunberg was also fined for blocking the port of Malmo in Sweden. She recently marched in England to protest against the expansion of Farnborough Airport, which is used mainly by private jets.
In 2018, Thunberg began a one-person school strike outside the Swedish parliament to demand action against what she believed to be the catastrophic state of the environment. This movement started a youth-led movement called Fridays for Future and set her on the path to becoming a global activist. Thungerg has spoken at Stockholm, Helsinki, Brussels, United States, and London climate conventions.Â
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