police in London have arrested more than 1,000 protestors in past week. Many of central London's busiest areas have been brought to standstill as tens of thousands of demonstrators staged peaceful protests on bridges, landmarks and traffic intersections. The protestors are part of newly formed Extinction Rebellion. This is movement focused on bringing UK government to declare climate change as global emergency and to pass laws to considerably reduce UK's carbon footprint. Campaigners have three key demands: for government to "tell truth about climate change"; to reduce carbon emissions to zero by 2025; and to create citizens' assembly to oversee progress.
The Swedish teenage environmental activist Greta Thunberg met leaders of UK's main political parties on Tuesday. The 16-year-old is Nobel Peace Prize nominee. She is attributed with starting global school protests in which students have been striking for greener planet. She told politicians that future of all the world's children had been "sold so that small number of people can make unimaginable amounts of money". She added: "You don't listen to science because you are only interested in answers that will allow you to carry on as if nothing has happened." One protestor said: "I support Extinction Rebellion. Civil disobedience is important to show this is emergency."
