LONDON (Reuters) – Climate change protesters said on Wednesday they intended to block major British oil refineries next month as part of their campaign to force the government to end reliance on fossil fuels.
Extinction Rebellion, which caused days of traffic chaos in central London three years ago, said the action would begin on April 9, with the aim of causing enough disruption “to create a tipping point moment”.
The group said after the refineries blockades, it would “flood” London with people to create their largest number of roadblocks.
“Oil refineries are symbolic of continued extraction and profit for a small group of very wealthy companies at the expense of everyone else,” the group’s co-founder Clare Farrell said in a statement.
“We burn them, pollute our cities, poison ourselves and our children whilst committing to climate breakdown. It’s no wonder the entire environmental movement is focussing on ending fossil fuels and the death they cause.”
Britain has committed to reaching a net zero goal for carbon emissions by 2050.
However, those plans have come under pressure in the wake of the crisis in Ukraine, with the government saying it would step up domestic production of oil and gas on Wednesday after announcing it would phase out imports of Russian oil by the end of 2022.
Newspapers have reported that some lawmakers in Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative Party are pushing for the government to look again at its net zero pledge, with consumer gas and electricity bills due to rise by 54% in April and increasing prices at petrol pumps.
“The government’s net zero commitments are being called into question, with some politicians and think tanks calling for a referendum on net zero, claiming that British people ‘can’t afford’ to address climate change,” Farrell said.
“But the truth is the opposite, the UK can afford to change and we can’t afford not to.”
(Reporting by Michael Holden; editing by William James)
