Greta Thunberg signs letter vowing to continue 'protesting in the streets' after being detained by police

More than 650,000 climate activists including Greta Thunberg have said they will continue “protesting in the streets in huge numbers” in a letter sent to oil and gas CEOs.

It comes just days after Thunberg was removed by German police away from a village that is due to make way for an expanding coal mine.

In the cease-and-desist letter, the youth campaigners accuse the CEOs of fossil fuel companies of a “direct violation of our human right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, your duties of care, as well as the rights of Indigenous people”.

“This cease-and-desist notice is to demand that you immediately stop opening any new oil, gas or coal extraction sites, and stop blocking the clean energy transition we all so urgently need,” the letter says.

According to the note sent to the energy companies, failure to act would mean that people from around the world would consider taking “any and all legal action” to hold the companies accountable.

The activists also warned: “And we will keep protesting in the streets in huge numbers.”

Vanessa Nakate from Uganda, Helena Gualinga from Ecuador and Luisa Neubauer from Germany joined Thunberg among those who have signed the letter.

Conservationist Thunberg was “grabbed and carried away” by two police officers in riot gear in Germany on Sunday, Bild reported.

The German village, Lützerath is earmarked for demolition to make way for an opencast coal mine.

A new amendment to a public order bill is set to give police in the UK more power to stop radical climate activists before they cause widespread disruption.

Officers will also be able to treat a series of protests by the same group as one incident when defining what can be classed as “serious disruption”.

Protesters caused chaos last month when the group switched tactics and police were forced to facilitate their slow marches disrupting motor traffic in central London.

Senior police chiefs have expressed their concerns with the legislation, saying it does not include a clear definition of “serious disruption”.

Extinction Rebellion, Insulate Britain and Just Stop Oil are named in government briefings for the new bill.

Tom Wainwright of Garden Court chambers, who specialises in protest cases, told the Guardian: “The government make it quite clear who they are targeting, and if the police are allowed to lump together disparate protests which operate under the same or a similar banner, then they are very likely to effectively close down particular groups.

“You could end up with almost a de facto blacklist, and treating protest groups like proscribed organisations, like terrorist organisations.”