Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg was taken into custody during a Fossil Free London demonstration outside the InterContinental Hotel on Park Lane, where oil executives were
convening.
The protesters endeavored to obstruct access to the hotel by taking over the entrance area.
According to a post by Fossil Free London on social media platform X, previously known as Twitter, "Breaking - Greta Thunberg has just been arrested."
Photographs on social media depicted the 20-year-old activist being led away by police officers and placed into a marked van.
The Metropolitan Police stated that it had imposed restrictions on the activists under Section 14 of the Public Order Act to "prevent serious disruption to the community, hotel, and guests" and had requested that they move from the road to the pavement.
As a result, six arrests were made for obstructing the highway, an additional 14 for Section 14 breaches, and one for criminal damage.
Dozens of protesters obstructed Hamilton Place, near Park Lane, at both ends. They displayed banners and pink umbrellas with eyes painted on them, chanted slogans such as "oily money out" and "cancel the conference," and ignited yellow and pink smoke flares.
A white fence surrounded the hotel entrance to keep protesters out while police escorted conference attendees through the crowd of chanting demonstrators.
Fossil Free London organized the protest for the first day of the three-day Energy Intelligence Forum, formerly known as the Oil and Money conference, where leaders from Shell and Total were slated to speak.
During the rally, Thunberg asserted, "Behind these closed doors at the Oil and Money conference, spineless politicians are making deals and compromises with lobbyists from destructive industries - the fossil fuel industry."
"People all over the world are suffering and dying from the consequences of the climate crisis caused by these industries who we allow to meet with our politicians and have privileged access to."
She added, "That is why we have to take direct action to stop this and to kick oily money out of politics."
In the course of the demonstration, Greenpeace activists abseiled down from the hotel's rooftop with a banner stating "make big oil pay."
Maja Darlington, from Greenpeace UK, said, "Oil bosses are toasting each other in a luxury hotel and plotting how to make even larger profits, while millions struggle to rebuild after a summer of extreme weather."
"Big oil is profiting from humanity's loss, and those who have done the least to cause climate change are being forced to pay the price."
Conference speakers include the CEOs of Saudi Arabia's Aramco and Norway's Equinor, the German ambassador to the UK, and Graham Stuart, the UK's energy security and net zero minister, who has previously argued that permitting oil and gas companies to continue drilling the North Sea for resources is necessary for energy security. Photo by Anders Hellberg, Wikimedia commons.