The trial of Greta Thunberg began Thursday in a London court where the environmental activist is on trial for disturbing public order, after having disrupted the high mass of the hydrocarbon industry in the British capital in October.
Wearing a dark gray T-shirt and black pants, with her hair tied in a ponytail, the 21-year-old Swede appeared calm, smiling at activists seated in the reserved part of the Westminster Magistrates Court room to the public.
She then took the floor to confirm her identity and date of birth. She could not hide a mocking smile when prosecution representative Luke Staton explained in his opening remarks that the five defendants had demonstrated on the first day of a meeting where major players in the oil and gas sector were to ” discuss and debate” on how to develop “sustainable solutions” for energy.
Greta Thunberg pleaded not guilty to public order offenses during a first hearing in November, like the four other activists who appeared with her on Thursday. She risks a maximum fine of 2,500 pounds, or nearly 3,000 euros.
For the start of his trial on Thursday, scheduled to last two days, a handful of environmental activists were present in court to support the world figure in the fight against global warming.
“When the world we know is under attack, what do we do? We must fight,” they said, holding a yellow banner on which was written: “climate combat is not a crime”.
This trial “is just the latest incident of what we are seeing across the UK, which is climate activists being vilified, persecuted by the courts” and “this is the exact opposite of what the government should do. He should act for the climate and not persecute activists,” Robin Wells, of the Fossil Free London group, told AFP.
Environmental activist Greta Thunberg is arrested during a demonstration on the sidelines of the Energy Intelligence Forum, October 17, 2023 in London / HENRY NICHOLLS / AFP/Archives
A total of 26 activists were arrested for disrupting access to the Energy Intelligence Forum, a conference bringing together major oil and gas companies at a luxury hotel in the British capital on October 17, 2023.
That day, activists greeted participants with “shame on you”, carrying signs “Stop Rosebank”, in reference to a controversial oil field in the North Sea which London authorized the exploitation of in September.
“Behind these closed doors (…) politicians without stature make agreements and compromises with lobbyists from the destructive fossil fuel sector,” Greta Thunberg told the press, before being put in a police van.
The young activist is being prosecuted for not having complied with the injunction of the London police not to block the street where this rally took place.
Released under judicial supervision, the next day she took part in a new demonstration in front of the five-star hotel, with hundreds of other people.
Lack of ambition
In the United Kingdom, the reversals of Rishi Sunak’s conservative government on key measures in the fight against the climate emergency, and its decision to grant new permits for the exploitation of hydrocarbon deposits in the North Sea, have sparked the anger of activists. They have filed several legal challenges and increased actions in recent months.
In return, they attracted the hostility of the executive which toughened the legislation to punish them more severely and dissuade them from taking action.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak meets residents of North Yorkshire on January 26, 2024 in Muker (United Kingdom) / Ian Forsyth / POOL/AFP
On Monday, the independent body responsible for advising the government on its climate strategy urged the UK to demonstrate “even stronger national ambition”.
Greta Thunberg, who gained worldwide notoriety with her “School Climate Strikes” started at the age of 15 in Sweden, regularly takes part in such demonstrations.
In October, it received a fine for blocking the port of Malmö in Sweden. Last weekend, she also joined a march in the south of England to protest against the expansion of Farnborough Airport, mainly used by private jets.
