27th August 2009
Climate change protesters have scaled a building in the City to highlight their opposition to carbon trading.
Activists targeted the Carbon Exchange in Bishopsgate at about 0900 BST and unfurled a banner claiming carbon trading to be a “false solution”.
A Metropolitan Police spokesman said about 20 activists were at the site and that officers were “in attendance”.
Hundreds of protesters have gathered in London as part of Climate Camp – a week of “education on green issues”.
The site for the camp – Dartmouth Field in Blackheath, south-east London – was kept secret until the last moment and details were sent to activists by text.
Activists had repeatedly refused to reveal the final location, saying they did not trust the police.
It followed accusations that the Metropolitan Police were heavy-handed in policing the G20 protests.
The site was chosen because it is within view of the City and near the River Thames, organisers said.
A Climate Change spokeswoman said: “Some people are making huge profits from carbon trading, and politicians are telling us it’s cutting carbon emissions but it’s not.
“Carbon trading is a false solution that is doing nothing to tackle climate change. So businesses, bankers and governments are just gambling with our planet.”
The four key themes of the annual camp are education, direct action, sustainable living, and building a movement to tackle climate change.
Ch Supt Helen Ball, of the Metropolitan Police, said: “As yet we don’t know what camp participants intend to do in the days ahead.
“I’d like to repeat our request that they talk to us about any protests they are planning so we can ensure a proportionate policing response and minimise any further impact on Londoners.”
The campers have wind turbines on site and say they are composting their food and toilet waste.
Flood plains
Campaigners say that about 3,000 activists are expected to visit the camp over the coming week.
They will be invited to workshops on a range of subjects, from climate change, biofuels and the fight against Heathrow airport, to yoga, wooden pencil-making and pedal-powered sound systems.
Organisers said this year’s venue symbolised the financial and corporate centres of power, and was within the flood plains of the River Thames, which they warned was at risk of bursting its banks as climate change escalated.
The heath was the setting for the Peasant’s Revoltuion, which saw thousands of protesters demonstrate against taxes more than 700 years ago.
The site hosted Jack Cade’s Kentish rebellion against King Henry VI in 1450, which was followed by the Battle of Deptford Bridge in 1497 during which Cornish rebels camped at the site.