Climate change activists are heading to the Guildhall in the city of London

LONDON, Aug. 22 (Reuters) – Climate change activists rallied outside London’s government headquarters on Sunday as two weeks of protests centered in the capital’s financial district began.

Some 200 protesters from the Extinction Rebellion group marched on the medieval Guildhall, home to the City of London Corporation, which governs the city’s historic financial center.

Three activists climbed the façade of the ornate Guildhall, some of which date back to the 15th century, lit red flares and displayed a banner that read, “co-liberation-freedom together.”

Extinction Rebellion, which caused days of traffic chaos in London two years ago, said it is targeting the city’s financial district, whom they blame for helping fuel climate change.

The group wants an emergency response from governments and a massive move away from polluting industries to avoid the worst scenarios of devastation described by scientists.

The Rebellion extinction stopped much of central London for 11 days of action in 2019, highlighting its cause, but also provoking criticism from some politicians who said police had been too tolerant.

The City of London is the smallest local authority in Britain and, unlike most conventional British councils, officially states that its job is to strengthen the importance of financial services to the British economy.

It claims to be the oldest and most continued representative local government in the world, running the area that hosts the Bank of England and St Paul’s Cathedral for at least a thousand years.

Reports by Andrew MacAskill; Edited by Hugh Lawson

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