Donald Trump protesters swoop on US Embassy in London to warn of 'climate genocide'

A protestor dressed as Donald Trump outside the US Embassy
PA
Tom Powell18 November 2016

A handful of protesters rallied outside the US Embassy in London tonight to warn of an approaching "climate genocide" as a result of Donald Trump's election win.

The Climate Defence activists, including one wearing a plastic mask of the president-elect, brandished a large banner reading “Trump: Climate Genocide at the Mayfair site on Friday evening”.

Mr Trump has previously claimed global warming was a hoax made up by the Chinese to make US manufacturing uncompetitive, and has promised to boost polluting coal and pull out of the Paris Agreement.

The treaty is a global deal, agreed under the United Nations, which will see action by all countries to curb rising temperatures.

Trump has previously claimed global warming was a hoax made up by the Chinese
PA

Spokesman Phil Thornhill, 60, said the ascension of Mr Trump to the White House threatened an agreement which, despite its flaws, was a good start to tackling the issue.

The former window cleaner, who recently returned to the UK after time abroad, said: "To kill that dead is to kill the last hope of doing something before the consequences become inevitably and irreversibly catastrophic."

He said Mr Trump's position on climate change could also undermine the momentum of the overall global response and "take the energy out of actually doing something".

The demonstration coincided with the last day of a UN climate summit
REUTERS

Addressing fellow activists and a small group of pedestrians who stopped to watch later on, Mr Thornhill let out an anguished cry while recounting how he felt when the US election result became known.

The former coordinator of the campaign against climate change said he did not have a professional background in environmental science but said "to be honest, you just need to go read Wikipedia".

Green Party Deputy Leader Amelia Womack also attended the rally and said the world looked to America for leadership.

She said: "This will bring devastation to the world's poorest, who are the sharp end of climate change and will see the most effects of global warming."

The demonstration coincided with the last day of a UN climate summit in Morocco.

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