Greta Thunberg detained to protest oil companies’ ties to government

Environmentalist Greta Thunberg was arrested in London today during a demonstration held on the occasion of a conference on the oil and gas industry, where she condemned agreements between these companies and political leaders.

Several hundred environmental protesters made their voices heard on the first day of the Energy Intelligence Forum, an event that brings together the industry’s top leaders for three days in the British capital.

The 20-year-old Swedish activist was questioned in the middle of the day.

In their statement, London police cited twenty arrests for obstructing public roads.

“Behind these closed doors (…) spineless politicians are making deals and making commitments with lobbyists from the destructive fossil fuel sector,” Greta Thunberg said at a press conference this morning.

“I have six grandchildren. I have nightmares just thinking about the future that awaits them,” Doro Marden, a 75-year-old pensioner from London, told AFP.

The head of Saudi oil company Aramco, Amin Nasser, confirmed during the conference that “new investment” in oil fields is needed to counter the depletion of old oil fields.

The protesters also condemned the fact that the President of the United Arab Petroleum Company of the Emirates, Sultan Al Jaber, is the President of the 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which is taking place in Dubai from November 30 to December 12.

“We know that fossil energy lobbyists have been corrupting COP procedures for decades,” Greta Thunberg said before her arrest. In his opinion, the choice of this oil and gas industry executive as president of COP28 “shows very, very clearly” the lack of ambition of the summits, which “cannot lead to a sharp reduction in CO2 emissions.”