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Protestors disrupt biofuels Mayfair summit
Felix Allen02.07.09
Climate activists clashed with police in central London as they tried to storm a five-star hotel and disrupt a“biofuels” industry summit.
Around 60 protesters were repeatedly pushed back as they attempted to rush past about 70 officers who were blocking the entrances to the Millennium Hotel in Grosvenor Square, Mayfair.
Several demonstrators from pressure group Climate Rush were knocked to the ground during the scuffles, but there were no arrests or reported injuries.
The hotel was hosting a gala dinner for delegates at the World Agri Invest Congress, as business leaders and investors met growers and buyers in agriculture - including biofuel crops such as palm oil, according to protest groups.
The protesters had planned to storm the ballroom suite and disrupt last night's conference, but were beaten back by ranks of police outside the hotel, close to the US Embassy.
Police were forced to close the road for an hour as the activists, many in Edwardian dress and one in an orang-utan costume, danced and sang outside.
Activists including Tamsin Omond, left, in bloomers
They marched at police lines chanting “food not fuel”, but were forced to retreat after several minutes. The protest had dwindled out by 9pm.
Tamsin Omond - one of the five Plane Stupid protesters who scaled the House of Commons in February 2008 - said she was undeterred. “Climate Rush is going to carry on disprupting any conference that's pushing false solutions for climate change,” she said.
“People are getting rich from agri-fuels and they use the excuse that they help fight climate change. But chopping down the rainforests, the world's biggest carbon sink, is really not the answer.”
Maryla Hart, of allied campiagn group Food Not Fuel, said: “Growing crops for biofuels at a time of climate crisis is criminal.”
No serious disruption was caused to the delegates, it is understood.
Speakers at the three-day conference were due to include pension fund managers, the director of trade at the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation and executives from Premier Foods, Nestle and Mars.
Organisers Terrapinn was unavailable for comment. The Millennium Hotel declined to comment on the protest or the conference.
A Scotland Yard spokesman said “an appropriate policing operation was in place” after commanders learned of the planned demonstration.
Campaigners say the rapidly expanding market for “agri-fuels” -- encouraged by EU targets -- is adding to global warming as it leads to widespread destruction of precious rainforests.
Deforestation for crop growing also threatens the survival of endangered species including orang-utans in Borneo, a major producer of palm oil.
