Arctic Drilling Protesters Scale London Skyscraper

A group of activists from Greenpeace scaled the Shard, the tapered 310m glass tower next to London Bridge station, as a protest against oil and gas drilling in the Arctic.

In an action that was perhaps inevitable at some point after the completion last year of western Europe's tallest building, visible across much of central London, the six climbers began their ascent in the early hours of Thursday morning. The activists reached the top of the building at around 7.10pm., reports The Guardian.

In a later statement, Greenpeace explained that the Shard was chosen because it was in sight of the three London bases of the energy giant Shell, which is involved in offshore drilling in the Arctic.

Citing Greenpeace, The Guardian added that the climbers used a combination of traditional mountain climbing techniques, rope access techniques used by commercial building climbers and some free climbing. The building has an external metal frame providing handholds and crossbeams all the way to the top.

Source: The Guardian