LONDON, Feb 16 (AFP) - Greenpeace activists stormed London's International Petroleum Exchange on Wednesday, causing a temporary halt to oil trading, in a protest to coincide with the Kyoto Protocol on climate change taking effect.
The protest was "to mark the adoption of the Kyoto treaty", a Greenpeace spokesperson told AFP's financial news wire AFX.
Police said that between 40 and 50 protesters, carrying whistles and banners, entered the exchange building in central, before forcing the trading floor to shut for about one hour.
"The traders were pretty cross," Greenpeace executive director Steven Tindale said.
"They kind of pinned us into the corner. There were a couple of dozen around us."
Outside, two activists scaled the front of the building to hang a banner that read: "Climate change kills, stop pushing oil".
The Earth's surface has warmed by 0.7 Celsius (1.25 Fahrenheit) since 1900 as a result of burning oil, gas and coal, and this may already be affecting the climate system, scientists say.
The Kyoto Protocol -- the landmark treaty requiring cuts in gas emissions which cause global warming -- took effect Wednesday with the support of 141 nations but was boycotted by the world's biggest polluter, the United States.
The 34 industrialized countries which have ratified the treaty are legally bound to slash output of greenhouse gases by 5.2 percent before 2012, with targets set for each nation based on their 1990 levels.
The treaty was reached in the ancient Japanese capital of Kyoto in 1997 amid fear that the rise in global temperatures could eventually lead to droughts and the extinction of some species.
02/16/2005 16:44 GMT - AFP