Greta Thunberg joins climate change protest in central London to demand banks stop investing in fossil fuels

Greta Thunberg joined young protesters in London to demand banks stop funding “our destruction” by investing in fossil fuels.

The teenage activist is one of thousands protesting across 26 countries and every continent in the world on Friday.

She joined activists taking part in the Youth Strike to Defund Climate Chaos protest against the funding of fossil fuels outside Standard Chartered headquarters in central London.

Greta, surrounded by police and photographers, joined in a chant of “We are unstoppable, another world is possible” jumping along with dozens of fellow eco-warriors.

Appearing with Vanessa Nakate, a Ugandan climate justice activist who recently appeared on the cover of Time Magazine, Ms Thunberg stayed for several minutes before leaving the area pursued by the world’s media.

She tweeted: “School strike week 167. Today we’re outside Standard Charted asking them to stop funding our destruction.

“Banks still pour fantasy amounts into fossil fuels, destabilising the planet and putting many people’s lives at risk.”

Greta Thunberg said she has not officially been invited to the Cop26 climate summit.

When asked by Andrew Marr whether she had been invited, as seen in a preview clip for his show which will air on BBC One on Sunday, she said: “I don’t know. It’s very unclear. Not officially.”

She added: “I think that many people might be scared that if they invite too many radical young people, then that might make them look bad.”

Ms Thunberg was earlier at the Natural History Museum on Friday morning, where she examined the minuscule beetle Nelloptodes gretae that was named in her honour in 2019.

She also explored its exhibition dedicated to the planetary emergency - Our Broken Planet: How We Got Here and Ways to Fix It.

The protests on Friday come just days before global leaders are set to join for the Cop26 UN climate change conference in Glasgow.

Leaders including Prime Minister Boris Johnson will, from Monday, discuss how best the world can work together against climate change.

The Prime Minister previously said he fears the summit could fail to make the change needed for the environment.

The Day of Action protest could be one of the largest climate finance protests in history and will take place at financial centres in London, New York, San Francisco and Nairobi.

Activists have been protesting outside branches of Barclays, Standard Chartered, Lloyds of London and the Bank of England.

The protests come after campaigners revealed banks have paid £2,754,145,000,000 into fossil fuel extraction since the 2015 Paris agreement where world leaders committed to limit the rise in global temperatures to 1.5C and reach net zero emissions by 2050.

The International Energy Authority says there can be no further exploration of oil and gas after 2021.

Joseph Sikulu, from Pacific Climate Warriors, said: “Financial institutions that continue to invest in dirty fossil fuel projects are also investing in the destruction of our islands and our homes.

“It’s time for the corporations who have caused this crisis to be held accountable.

“The science is clear. We need to do everything we can to limit global warming to 1.5C, the survival of our islands depends on that. To get there we need to defund the climate chaos.”

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