1,000-strong protest calls for end to fossil fuels and ‘complicity in Gaza genocide’
About 1,000 protesters took to the streets of London on Saturday to demand an end to fossil fuels and ‘UK complicity in the Gaza genocide’.
The March for Global Climate Justice brought together more than 60 groups, including Extinction Rebellion, Greenpeace, Amnesty International UK, Palestine Solidarity Campaign, War on Want and Just Stop Oil.
Angus O’Brien, national coordinator at the Climate Justice Coalition, said: “Thousands of us united today in a historic mobilisation on the streets of London to demand an end to the era of fossil fuels and an end to the genocide in Gaza.
“We won’t stop until political leaders divest from war and destruction – and invest in a just, ecological and equitable transition.”
Attendees carried banners and placards bearing messages including “ceasefire now”, “divest in militarism, invest in life” and “end fossil fuels, end the genocide”, gathered outside the British Museum.
The group then marched to 10 Downing Street, with a brief pause in the Strand, outside an office of Socar, the Azerbaijan-owned oil company.
Tyrone Scott, senior movement building and activism officer at War on Want, said: “Fossil fuel companies that are profiting from extracting and polluting – driving climate breakdown – are also profiting from funnelling oil to Israel; oil that Israel is then using in its genocide of the Palestinian people.
“There is no climate justice without human rights.”
The protest comes as world leaders gathered for the UN’s Cop29 climate summit in Azerbaijan.
Joanna Warrington, campaigner at Fossil Free London, said: “We are marching today to demand that the UK Government breaks free from the grip of mega polluters, stands up to their relentless greed, and stops enabling the violence and destruction they profit from.
“Another world is not just possible – it’s essential, and it starts with holding fossil fuel corporations accountable.”
The protest ended with a rally outside Downing Street, where speakers including Green Party deputy leader Zack Polanski and a spokesperson for the Palestine Solidarity Campaign addressed attendees and called for a ceasefire in Gaza and social and climate justice.
In the past year, about 90 per cent of Gaza’s population – 1.9million people – have fled their homes, according to the UN. More than 43,700 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli attacks since October 7, 2023, according to Gaza’s ministry of health.
The revised death toll in Israel from Hamas’s October 7 attacks stands at around 1,200, with around 100 people still held hostage.
A Government spokesman said:“We are back in the business of climate leadership because it is in Britain’s national self-interest to tackle the climate crisis.
“At COP29, we have set an ambitious new target to reduce emissions by 81% by 2035, supporting our mission for growth.
“We’re also supporting countries on the front line of the climate crisis to roll out clean energy and accelerate the global transition away from fossil fuels.”
Pictured top: Protesters march through the streets of London holding banners with messages including, ‘end fuelling genocide’ (Picture: Denise Baker)