Greta Thunberg has been charged with a public order offense following a protest outside a hotel in central London, the Metropolitan Police said.
The 20-year-old was one of 26 people charged after Tuesday’s meeting outside the InterContinental Hotel in Park Lane, where a large gathering of oil executives was taking place.
Scotland Yard said protesters were asked to move from the road to the pavement to avoid breaching the conditions.
Thunberg – whose address was given by police as ‘Dorset’ – was charged with failing to comply with a condition for public gatherings.
The Swedish activist could be seen smiling as she was detained by officers and led to a waiting police van after taking part in a protest outside the Energy Intelligence Forum (EIF) – formerly the Oil and Money Conference.
Footage shared on social media showed officers marching the campaigner towards the van while other protesters were told to stand back.
She had previously spoken outside the hotel as part of a protest organized by Fossil Free London against the EIF event, urging eco-activists to ‘take back power’ and attack ‘spineless’ politicians for had not taken action against global warming.
Thunberg was accused of failing to comply with a condition for public meetings
Greta Thunberg, wearing a large badge reading ‘Oily Money Out’, is led away from the Intercontinental Hotel Park Lane by two Met police officers
The 20-year-old Swedish activist was led to a police van as activists looked on
Other protesters were told to stand back as Ms Thunberg smiled from the back of the police van
Ms Thunberg was surrounded by officers as she was detained and led to the van
Thunberg has been charged with failing to comply with a condition imposed under Article 14 of the Public Order Act.
Officers said they asked protesters to move from the road to the sidewalk, which would have allowed them to continue protesting legally.
They said they had imposed conditions to ‘avoid inconvenience to the public’.
She was bailed to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on November 15.
A Met Police spokesperson said: ‘We have charged 26 people following a protest outside a hotel in central London.
‘Officers responded to the protest on Tuesday morning, October 17, and imposed conditions to prevent disruption to the public.
“The demonstrators were asked to move from the road to the sidewalk so that they could continue their demonstration without violating the conditions.”
Fossil Free London activists beat drums and chanted “oily, oily money, out, out, out” as they blocked the hotel entrance; members of Greenpeace later dramatically descended the side of the building to unfurl a banner that read, “Make Big Oil Pay.”
Speakers at the conference include COP28 president delegate Dr Sultan Ahmed Al-Jaber, net-zero minister Graham Stuart, former climate change minister Charles Hendry and senior figures from energy companies BP, Shell, Repsol and ExxonMobil.
The agenda includes a discussion about whether the COP meeting on climate change is ‘still relevant’.
Thunberg became the face of young climate activists worldwide after he protested weekly in front of the Swedish parliament in 2018.