Extinction Rebellion protestors stopped Lloyd’s of London from opening today

Yeah, we all know that the planet’s in something of a bad way (to put things mildly), but how many of us actually do something about it? Today, 60 Extinction Rebellion protestors took over the shiny streets of London’s financial centre. Their strategy has been to blockade the entrance of Lloyd’s of London using chains, superglue and bike locks, then scale the building and unfurl banners announcing ‘End Fossil Fuels Now’, ‘Lloyd’s Insure CO₂lonisation’ and ‘Insure Climate Justice’. Some protestors have been dressed up as adorable-but-evil rats, in a satire of fossil fuel bosses, while others are in garb as ‘scrubbers’, trying in vain to scrub the reputation of oil and gas clean.

But why is Lloyd’s coming in for so much flack? Basically, it’s because this historic insurance market is insuring some pretty controversial fossil fuel projects. Extinction Rebellion has particularly singled out the Trans Mountain Pipeline, a planned 610-mile pipeline in Canada between Alberta and British Columbia, which they say is being insured by Lloyd’s. A spokesperson for Extinction Rebellion said: ‘We’re here to demand an end to all new fossil fuel investments and insurance. By underwriting the world’s most deadly fossil fuel projects, they are creating climate chaos – floods, famine, wildfires and death.’ 

Lloyd’s said that although its HQ was closed, it was still trading today, with staff and market participants working remotely. 

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