TRAFFIC was brought to a standstill earlier today as a group took to the streets of York to protest over Climate Change.

Around 20 protesters blocked Ouse Bridge after parading through city centre streets.

York Press:

The Extinction Rebellion group gathered in St Helen’s Square at 11am, performing a series of rolling roadblocks across the city to demonstrate the need for more action on climate change.

The group is demanding the government ‘tells the truth’ about the climate and wider ecological emergency, reduces carbon emissions to net zero by 2025 and convenes a national Citizen Assembly to oversee changes.

York Press:

Ouse Bridge was blocked for 10 minutes before the group went to a meeting with City of York Council's director of economy and place, Neil Ferris.

One passer-by said: “My son’s a policeman in Beverley and is helping police the protest in York today. It’s a lot of resources that have been used to look after this protest when police could be out there stopping crime.”

Elaine Knightingale, another on-looker, said: “It’s a really important protest and it’s a call to big corporations to take notice.”

Founding member of the York Extinction Rebellion, Merry Dickinson, said: “We had a good first meeting with York council who were very receptive. We understand that currently they don’t have much money but this isn’t something that we can let go unnoticed without action.”

Cllr Andrew Waller, deputy leader of City of York Council and executive member for environment, said: “We are working closely with the West Yorkshire Combined Authority to reduced the carbon footprint of the Leeds City Region, of which York is a part.

York Press:

"Recently, through the Leeds City Region LEP, we have been working to reduce our carbon footprint and meet carbon targets, in line with the Paris Climate Change Agreement of limiting temperature rise to less than 2C.

"Over the coming months, we will be undertaking further work to see what can be done to meet the recommendation proposed in the recent IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) report on limiting global warming to no more than 1.5C.

“We are implementing and continue to work on a wide range of policies reflected in our One Planet York scheme, which is a growing network of organisations working to ensure York remains a sustainable, resilient and collaborative city.  This includes our efforts to deliver the UK’s first Clean Air Zone.”