CLIMATE ACTIVIST GRETA Thunberg is set to appear in court today accused of a public order offence after a protest in London last year.

Thunberg, 21, was arrested in October during a protest outside a hotel where oil company executives were meeting and charged with breaching the UK’s Public Order Act by blocking the entrance to the hotel.

The Swedish activist, as well as four others from Greenpeace and Fossil Free London, has pleaded not guilty.

Protests against fossil fuel companies like the one last October see campaigners seek to raise awareness of the devastating impacts that the continued burning of oil and gas is having on the planet and call for action to curb their extraction.

Burning fossil fuels releases greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, which then act like a blanket to trap heat near the earth’s surface and push average temperatures upwards.

As global average temperatures rise, the climate crisis poses increasing threats to people and nature all around the world.  

Maja Darlington, a campaigner at Greenpeace UK, said that the “prosecution of Greta and other peaceful protesters reflects a government that cares more about bolstering the profits of oil bosses than fighting for a liveable future for all of us”.

“Instead of cracking down on climate activists, the UK Government should force Shell and the rest of the oil industry to stop drilling and start paying for the damage they are causing to our planet and everyone who lives on it,” Darlington said.

Last week, a UN expert criticised the UK for “increasingly severe crackdowns” on climate campaigners, expressing concerns that the country is stifling the right to protest.

UN Special Rapporteur on Environmental Defenders Michel Forst said it is a “matter of concern for any member of the public in the UK who may wish to take action  for the climate or environmental protection”, adding that the right to peaceful protest is “a basic human right” and “an essential part of a healthy democracy”.

“Protests, which aim to express dissent and to draw attention to a particular  issue, are by their nature disruptive. The fact that they cause disruption or involve civil disobedience do not mean they are not peaceful,” he said.

Additional reporting by Press Association