Extinction Rebellion blockade Gherkin as more insurance firms targeted

Extinction Rebellion (XR) protesters have occupied The Gherkin in its latest round of insurance-related protests.

In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, today (29 October 2024), XR said it had created a “blockade in the heart of London’s insurance district” to protest insurance firms insuring new fossil fuel projects.

🚨 BREAKING: XR REBELS BLOCKADE THE GHERKIN#ExtinctionRebellion have created a blockade in the heart of Ldn’s insurance district protesting fossil fuel-backed policies that drive #climatecchaos

SUPPORT PEOPLE IN ACTION - Donate here:https://t.co/wBgnsFIYqA#InsureOurSurvival pic.twitter.com/lMk0TH9Ziu

— Extinction Rebellion UK 🌍 (@XRebellionUK) October 29, 2024

Video footage shows protesters inside the lobby of The Gherkin, which is where Swiss Re is based, while police are on the scene as well.

In the video, a protester can be heard saying: “We’re in London at The Gherkin building outside the offices of Swiss Re and we are here because we need to stop the fossil fuel industry from creating more chaos with the climate.”

Other protests

The protest comes after XR and Just Stop Oil stormed multiple insurance offices yesterday (28 October 2024).

XR occupied the lobby of the Walkie Talkie building in Fenchurch Street, which is home to insurers such as Tokio Marine Kiln.

And Just Stop Oil said it had occupied the Colmore Building in Birmingham, which houses insurers such as Chubb and Allianz.

The protests form part of the Insure Our Survival Campaign, which aims to stop insurance firms from insuring new fossil fuel projects.

And the action comes after XR said it had written to a range of senior executives at UK-based firms on 14 October 2024, warning them that they had two weeks to cease insuring new fossil fuel projects.

“You have 14 days from today to make a public declaration that you will stop insuring all new fossil fuel projects,” the letter said.

“Your failure to make such a declaration by October 28 will mean that your business in the UK will become the focus of a wide range of non-violent direct actions by thousands of XR activists and their allies during a week of actions in London and across the UK, [as well as] in the weeks and months after that.”