Activists glue themselves to London train on third day of climate protests

The group has blocked four main traffic arteries in central London since Monday, and on Wednesday it began a day of “light” disruption of the city’s overground network. The pair of demonstrators on top of the train at Canary Wharf station, in the heart of one of London’s financial districts, also unfurled a banner that said “Climate Emergency.” Police officers then climbed up onto the train roof to unstick the protesters before removing them.Extinction Rebellion said that Wednesday’s transport disruption is called “The Pause,” which aims to “create moments in time when humanity stops and fully considers the extent of the harm we have done and are doing to life on earth.”London’s Metropolitan Police confirmed on Wednesday morning that they have made over 300 arrests in relation to Extinction Rebellion since Monday.Extinction Rebellion say this set of protests will take place in at least 80 cities and more than 33 countries.The group, which is founded by British activists, has three aims: the first is to get governments to declare a “climate emergency,” reduce net greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2025, and for citizens’ assemblies to lead the government on climate and ecological justice.It is supported by a slew of academics, scientists and celebrities — including the former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, British actress Emma Thompson and American actor Willem Dafoe — has claimed that more than 3,000 people will take part in Wednesday’s protests.’Never been an activist before’In Oxford Circus activists flocked around a bright pink boat, daubed with the words “Tell the Truth,” as police vans gathered at the corner.”I have never been arrested or charged before, so this is new for me,” Kate Bull, 58, told CNN on Wednesday as she locked arms with another activist she only met an hour before — bracing for any new round of arrests. Behind the boat, Daniel Williams, a 41-year-old tradesman who traveled down from Wales to take part in the protests, told CNN that he had “never been an activist before.” Everything changed when a friend told him last year about Extinction Rebellion.”Years of one day marches and writing to your MPs has only led to CO2 emissions going up by 60% since the 1990s,” Williams said. “We don’t want to disrupt people’s lives, but it is the only way we can get heard,” he said. Susannah Trevelyan, who claimed to be the great, great, great granddaughter of English naturalist Charles Darwin, told CNN said that she was willing to be arrested for the cause. Adding that if Darwin were alive today, he would be “appalled by the huge extinction we are causing … the worst extinction event in 65 million years.” Williams, who started an Extinction Rebellion branch in Aberystwyth, Wales, added that the group’s non-violent demonstrations were inspired by civil rights giants like “Martin Luther King, Gandhi and the Suffragettes.””We are going to stay here [Oxford Circus] for as long as it takes,” he added. Gianluca Mezzofiore contributed to this report.