Emma Thompson boards the pink climate change boat in London
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British actress Emma Thompson talks to the media from atop the pink climate change boat Friday.
Tolga Akmen/AFP/Getty Images
LondonCNN
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British actress Emma Thompson on Friday climbed aboard a pink boat that has occupied one of central London’s main traffic intersections for the past five days as climate change activists protest in the UK capital.
Since Monday, the British-based Extinction Rebellion (XR) group has orchestrated non-violent mass protests, crippling some of city’s major traffic routes – including at Marble Arch, Parliament Square, Oxford Circus and Waterloo Bridge – to highlight “disastrous inaction” on climate change.
The grassroots movement has three aims: to get governments to declare a “climate emergency;” to eliminate net greenhouse gas emissions by 2025; and to have citizens’ assemblies lead the government on climate and ecological justice.
Friday, Oscar-winner Thompson – known for “Sense and Sensibility,” “Saving Mr. Banks” and “Love Actually” – joined protesters in the brilliant Good Friday sunshine at Oxford Circus. She told reporters she was inspired to join after watching the movement over the past week, Britain’s Press Association reported.
“This is the most pressing and urgent problem of our time, in the history of the human race,” she said, adding that young people have been failed by her generation and politicians.
“I have seen the evidence for myself and I really care about my children and grandchildren enough to want to be here today to stand with the next generation,” Thompson added.
Thompson joins the Extinction Rebellion protest at London's Oxford Circus on Friday.
Leon Neal/Getty Images
Thompson then climbed a ladder leaning on the parked vessel – which has several activists lying beneath it – and emerged on its deck as crowds cheered.
“We are here in this little island of sanity and it makes me so happy to be able to join you all and to add my voice to the young people here who have inspired a whole new movement,” she said.
Thompson joins the fifth day of protests by an environmental campaign group that has blocked key junctions in central London to highlight the ongoing ecological crisis.
Leon Neal/Getty Images
As the actress spoke, police on the ground moved forward and formed a ring around the boat, gently taking a few steps forward to push people back.
A policeman told CNN that about 50 officers had surrounded the boat. He added that people were free to leave but they would not be allowed to return.
Thompson remained on board for an hour. Shortly after she left, police moved in again and began clearing the area.
CNN saw several officers speaking to activists who had attached themselves to the vessel. The activists were told that if they refused to leave, they would be given a sticker and then have to wait to be arrested. Meanwhile, police specialists carrying mountaineering gear inspected how the boat was attached to the road.
Over the next few hours, all activists were cleared before the boat’s flags and mast were removed and the vessel was towed away amid boos from the crowd. Police allowed scores of protesters to return to the intersection and they promptly glued themselves to the asphalt and began clapping and singing “Don’t Worry Be Happy.”
The activists have been bracing themselves for arrests throughout the week. On Friday evening, London Metropolitan Police said they had arrested more than 682 people.
On Twitter, the police said: “The protesters are using tactics of lying on the ground when approached. This means that it takes at least four officers to remove one person to ensure their safety which is resource intensive”.
Elsewhere in London, protesters have continued to hold Waterloo Bridge in both directions. Some have glued themselves together and to the ground. XR protester Yanai Postelnik told CNN he estimates a dozen people were arrested at the location Friday.
Photos: In photos: Climate change activists stage protests across London
Tolga Akmen/AFP/Getty Images
British actress Emma Thompson talks to members of the news media on Friday, April 19, from atop a boat being used by climate activists to blockade the Oxford Circus junction in central London.
Photos: In photos: Climate change activists stage protests across London
Tolga Akmen/AFP/Getty Images
Police carry a protester away from Oxford Circus on April 17.
Photos: In photos: Climate change activists stage protests across London
Tolga Akmen/AFP/Getty Images
Activists blockade Waterloo bridge on the third day of protests organized by the Extinction Rebellion group.
Photos: In photos: Climate change activists stage protests across London
Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP/Getty Images
Activists, including Labour Party councilor Skeena Rathor, left, are photographed with their hands glued together and locked to a fence outside the home of Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn in north London on April 17.
Photos: In photos: Climate change activists stage protests across London
Kirsty O'Connor/AP
Police begin to remove climate activists who glued themselves to a train in London on April 17.
Photos: In photos: Climate change activists stage protests across London
Henry Nicholls/REUTERS
Climate activists hold a sign on top of a Dockland Light Railway train at Canary Wharf station, in east London, as part of ongoing climate change protests in the English capital.
Photos: In photos: Climate change activists stage protests across London
Daniel Leal-OlivasAFP/Getty Images
Activists block Oxford Circus in central London on Wednesday.
Photos: In photos: Climate change activists stage protests across London
Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP/Getty Images
A climate change protestor who glued his hand to a window halts a train at Canary wharf station on the third day of environmental protests by the Extinction Rebellion group.
Photos: In photos: Climate change activists stage protests across London
Tolga Akmen/AFP/Getty Images
Climate change protestors practice yoga on Waterloo Bridge in central London on April 17.
Photos: In photos: Climate change activists stage protests across London
Frank Augstein/AP
A boy plays football across chalk drawings during the ongoing blockade of Waterloo Bridge.
Photos: In photos: Climate change activists stage protests across London
Leon Neal/Getty Images
Police officers remove a protester from the Waterloo Bridge blockade during a coordinated protest on Tuesday, April 16.
Photos: In photos: Climate change activists stage protests across London
Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP/Getty Images
Activists carry model insects as the demonstrate on Waterloo Bridge on April 16.
Photos: In photos: Climate change activists stage protests across London
Kirsty O'Connor/PA Images via Getty Images
A infant is held alongside a protest sign in Parliament Square, London, on Tuesday.
Photos: In photos: Climate change activists stage protests across London
Tayfun Salci/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
Members of the Extinction Rebellion group talk with police during a demonstration at Waterloo Bridge.
Photos: In photos: Climate change activists stage protests across London
Richard Baker/In Pictures via Getty Images
"No Time to Waste" is written on the pavement at Waterloo Bridge.
Photos: In photos: Climate change activists stage protests across London
Yui Mok/PA Images via Getty Images
Extinction Rebellion demonstrators camp near Marble Arch, London, on April 16.
Photos: In photos: Climate change activists stage protests across London
Tolga Akmen/AFP/Getty Images
An activist sprays graffiti on an awning at the Shell Centre, offices of Royal Dutch Shell, as demonstrators surround the building during an environmental protest by Extinction Rebellion members on Monday, April 15.
Photos: In photos: Climate change activists stage protests across London
Dan Kitwood/Getty Images
A campaigner sits with her hand glued to the revolving doors at the entrance to the Shell Oil building on April 15.
Photos: In photos: Climate change activists stage protests across London
Richard Baker/In Pictures via Getty Images
Protesting acrobats block traffic in London on April 15.
Photos: In photos: Climate change activists stage protests across London
Tolga Akmen/AFP/Getty Images
Members of the Extinction Rebellion group stage a demonstration on Waterloo Bridge.
Photos: In photos: Climate change activists stage protests across London
David Cliff/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Ice blocks shaped as life vests melt in the sun as members and supporters of Extinction Rebellion rally in Parliament Square on April 15.
Photos: In photos: Climate change activists stage protests across London
Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP/Getty Images
Demonstrators wear costumes at Oxford Circus.
Photos: In photos: Climate change activists stage protests across London
Tolga Akmen/AFP/Getty Images
An environmental protestor stands on a barrier to take a picture on April 15.
Photos: In photos: Climate change activists stage protests across London
Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP/Getty Images
Acrobats participate in the demonstration at Oxford Circus on April 15.
Photos: In photos: Climate change activists stage protests across London
TOLGA AKMEN/AFP/Getty Images
Environmental protesters from the Extinction Rebellion group arrive with a tree to stage a demonstration on Waterloo Bridge. Protesters placed plants along the length of the bridge on April 15.
Demonstrators also staged a rally at Heathrow Airport on Friday, but no flights were affected.
XR said earlier this week that the London protests are part of an international campaign that will see demonstrations in at least 80 cities and more than 33 countries, including the United States,Denmark and Australia.
CNN’s Anna Stewart, Rachel Rodriguez, Sarah Tilotta and Livvy Doherty contributed to this report.