London climate protesters seek talks with government
LONDON: Climate change protesters who have brought parts of London to a standstill said Sunday they were prepared to call a halt if the British government will discuss their demands.
Some 963 arrests have been made and 42 people charged in connection with the ongoing Extinction Rebellion protests.
On the seventh day of demonstrations that have occupied key spots in the British capital, Swedish teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg addressed the demonstrators, telling them: “Humanity is standing at a crossroads.”
Organisers said they were willing to switch tactics from disruption to dialogue next week -- if the government enters talks.
“We are prepared to pause, should the government come to the negotiating table,” Extinction Rebellion spokesman James Fox told AFP.
“What the pause looks like is us stopping an escalation.
“We can discuss leaving if they are willingto discuss our demands. “At the moment, we haven’t received a response from the government... so we’re waiting on that.” Extinction Rebellion was established last year in Britain by academics and has become one of the world’s fastest-growing environmental movements. Campaigners want governments to declare a climate and ecological emergency, reduce greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2025, halt biodiversity loss and be led by new “citizens’ assemblies on climate and ecological justice. “We’re giving them an opportunity now to come and speak to us,” Fox told AFP.
“If they refuse to come and negotiate with us, then this is going to continue and this is going to escalate in different, diverse and very creative ways.”
Calling for an end to the protests, London Mayor Sadiq Khan said more than 9,000 police officers had been responding to the demonstrations, which had left the force as a whole overstretched.
“This is now taking a real toll on our city... this is counterproductive to the cause,” he said.
“I’m extremely concerned about the impact the protests are having on our ability to tackle issues like violent crime.
“You must now let London return to business as usual.”