Renowned climate activist Greta Thunberg was detained by London police on Tuesday, October 17th. Thunberg had been attending a protest by a climate group called Fossil Free London. The demonstration was held outside the Intercontinental Hotel, where inside at the time, an annual summit for executives of gas and oil companies was supposed to happen. Representatives of Shell, Aramco, and the UK’s energy security minister were all supposed to be in attendance. The protesters chanted “oily money out” and tried to block the entrances of the hotel in order to stop the delegates from entering the conference. Thunberg was one of the twenty six arrests made by the London Metropolitan Police and has now been charged with a public order offense. 

She was released overnight on bail until November 15th, which is when her hearing will take place with London’s Westminster Magistrates’ Court. Before the protest Thunberg highlighted what she sees as the importance of her actions, stating that “we have no choice but to disrupt” as “our world is being swept away by greenwashing and lies.” Thunberg and her followers believe that these oil companies are stopping the UK, and other European countries, from going all green. These protests showed once again the divide over what should be done in terms of climate change.