Post date: Jul 11, 2013 6:37:33 PM
The viewing platform of London's Shard skyscraper has been closed to visitors as six female Greenpeace activists scale Britain's tallest building in protest at drilling in the Arctic.
LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (JULY 11, 2013) (ITN) - Six female activists from environmental group Greenpeace scaledLondon's Shard skyscraper on Thursday (July 11) to protest oil and gas drilling in the Arctic.
The six women started their ascent at 4 a.m. local time and upon reaching the summit they planned to unfurl a "giant piece of art that will show the true beauty of the Arctic and why we're telling Shell to keep its rusty rigs away".Last September, Arctic sea ice reached its lowest level on record and scientists say there could be an ice-free summer by 2030-2040.
Greenpeace say they picked the Shard, not only because it is modelled on a shard of ice, but because it sits bang in the middle of oil and gas company Shell's threeLondon headquarters. They say Shell want to drill for oil in places that have only become accessible due to the melting of Arctic ice, adding that the burning of that oil will only accelerate the melt in a vicious circle.
The activists' ascent forced the temporary closure of the Shards viewing platform, and aerial footage showed police watching the climbers through windows hundreds of metres up.
The Shard, which opened amid much fanfare in February, is majority owned byQatar and houses a premium hotel, several restaurants, 12 floors of apartments, 600,000 square feet of office space, as well as a viewing deck.
It is part of a two-billion-pound redevelopment of the London Bridge area on the south bank of the River Thames, which cuts through the British capital.