Extinction Rebellion demands climate action with second day of UK protest

Police officers detain an Extinction Rebellion climate activist during a "peaceful disruption" of British Parliament as lawmakers return from the summer recess, at Parliament Square in London, Britain September 2, 2020. REUTERS/Toby Melville

Banging drums, waving flags and lying down to "die", hundreds of Extinction Rebellion activists gathered outside Britain's parliament for a second day on Wednesday to demand that the government act to avoid a climate catastrophe.

The rallies in London's Parliament Square come after protests planned for earlier in the year were canceled due to the spread of the coronavirus.

Police arrested around 160 people on Tuesday for obstructing the roads and officers could be seen carrying more demonstrators away from the area on Wednesday.

Extinction Rebellion activists participate in a "peaceful disruption" of the British Parliament as lawmakers return from summer recess, in London, Britain September 2, 2020. REUTERS/Toby Melville

Extinction Rebellion say an emergency response and mass move away from polluting industries and behaviors is needed to avert a looming climate cataclysm.

They marked this fear on Wednesday when protesters lay on Parliament Square under white sheets to look like corpses.

"Today we are marking the deaths of all those people who have died and will continue to die as a result of climate change and ecocide," an organizer said.

A health worker holds a fake death certificate as Extinction Rebellion activists participate in a "peaceful disruption" of the British Parliament as lawmakers return from summer recess, in London, Britain September 2, 2020. REUTERS/Toby Melville

(Reporting by William Russell; editing by Stephen Addison)

Extinction Rebellion activists and health workers participate in a "peaceful disruption" of the British Parliament as lawmakers return from summer recess, in London, Britain September 2, 2020. REUTERS/Toby Melville

An Extinction Rebellion activist participates in a "peaceful disruption" of the British Parliament as lawmakers return from summer recess, in London, Britain September 2, 2020. REUTERS/Toby Melville