Four members of the environmentalist group Climate Siren scaled to the top of one of Buckingham Palace's front gates and demanded Queen Elizabeth II and other world leaders take action against climate change, chaining themselves to the gate's railings in protest.
The Queen was not at her grand dwelling place at the time, but was instead in Ascot watching horse races. There were however about a hundred onlookers on hand, as well as the police who later arrested the protesters.
The onlookers were treated to slogan shouting through loudspeakers, and could bear witness to the shirts the protesters wore which read: "climate emergency. 10% annual emission cuts", as well as the large banner the protesters had unfurled over the gate, which read: "The doomsday clock of climate change is ticking ever faster towards midnight. We are simply not reacting quickly enough."
The banner slogan was a quote from the Queen's son Prince Charles, who has increasingly taken the mantle of addressing climate change issues on his royal shoulders. The group however would like to see the Queen herself make more of an effort to raise awareness of the growing threat, as well as other world leaders.
A statement to the Queen on the group's website read: "It is time that you and all public figures with influence followed the example of your son by speaking up... about the escalating threat of catastrophic climate change."
The Saturday protest was timed to coincide with the conclusion of the Rio+20 Earth Summit in Brazil, which wrapped up Friday, and which failed to achieve any meaningful results, according to the protesters, and which wasn't even attended by several prominent nations (and prominent greenhouse gas emitters), including the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany.
Is there anything the Queen, or anyone else can do to effectively combat climate change? Or have we passed the point of no return, where it's impossible to alter our way of living enough to stem the tide of destruction being wrought by us on the planet and its ecosystems? Let us know your thoughts.
