The group says that the campaign is not a one-day march and plans to go ahead round the clock with its acts of disobedience for two weeks.
"Climate breakdown and ecological collapse threaten our existence. Another world is possible, and it’s just within reach. It’s going to take everything we’ve got to get there. So we’re pulling out all the stops and rising up in a full-scale Rebellion against this twisted system to save ourselves and the natural world from extinction," climate action group Extinction Rebellion said in a statement, posted on its official website.
The group demands that the government “tell the truth by declaring a climate and ecological emergency” and work to reach net zero gas emissions by 2025, as well as set up a “Citizens’ Assembly on climate and ecological justice.”
According to the group's Twitter, the protesters will block five iconic locations across London, with Waterloo Bridge, Oxford Circus, Marble Arch already blocked for traffic.
Meanwhile, the Sky News broadcaster reported that the protests had turned violent, with the Shell building in Lambeth, southeast London, vandalized with graffiti and the glass of one of its doors smashed.
One woman was reportedly arrested in connection with the incident.