London: As part of a four-day campaign to "highlight the environmental failures" of the government, thousands of protesters descended on Britain's Parliament on Saturday.
Extinction Rebellion, also known as XR, an environmental organisation, opened the event on Friday, promising less disruption and greater inclusion than the blockades that have become its trademark.
According to the group, thousands of protesters demonstrated in front of government buildings in London on Friday "to highlight the environmental and social failures across them all," according to XR.
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The protest on Saturday, which was about nature and biodiversity, began at Westminster Abbey with participants, many of whom were children wearing animal masks and costumes.
"There's a crisis. "We all need to work together so that future generations can appreciate our stunning planet," said Jenny O'Hara Jakeway, 47, who travelled the six-hour distance with her two kids from Wales.
I should protest more, but my priorities are my family and my job. Due to the urgency of the situation, remaining passive is no longer an option, she said.
For the occasion, many people had made banners, some of which read: "We defend the climate but police arrest us" and "Extinction is forever." Some people cautioned that a third of the UK's bird species were "at risk of extinction."
XR member Joseph Young, 43, came with his wife Laura Churchill, a community worker, and their two kids, Fox, 10, and Jurno, 5. Fox, dressed as a tiger, stated, "We are here to save the planet from people who destroy it.
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As a cheetah costumed person, Jurno continued, "They are my favourite animals, and I want them to be protected."
The activists described the mass "die-in" that took place in Parliament Square as the march's "symbolic spectacle," during which participants "lie down in silence, in memory and mourning for the heartbreaking 70% decline in wild animal populations since the first Earth Day in 1970."
According to Areeba Hamid, executive director of Greenpeace UK, "As the government continues to fuel the flames of the climate and biodiversity crisis, it's clear that only a collective effort can put it out." The four-day gathering, according to the speaker, would "act as the catalyst of a new united fight against the vested interests putting profits over people and the planet."
XR has caused significant disruption in recent years by using direct action protests against climate change to target roads, airports, and other public transport networks.
However, it temporarily halted its high-profile protests in January and announced plans to organise massive protests in opposition to what it views as the government's inaction against global warming.
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According to XR spokesperson Zoe Cohen, "the climate and ecological crisis is not something that is going to happen in the future; it is already here." "It's time that the government took this seriously and listened to the people here," she continued.
The event, which will take place on Sunday and coincide with the London Marathon, is expected to draw between 40,000 and 50,000 participants. To lessen disruption, talks have been had with the race's organisers.