G4S issues warning on London Climate Camp

27 Aug 09

UK companies are investing greater resources in protecting their assets against a growing activist threat from the The Climate Camp, which begins today in London.

By Brian Sims

The next Climate Camp, which is being held in London from 27 August–2 September, will be the third of three major camps across the UK in the last month. Speculation over its location has generated much media interest with a variety of targets suggested, including one of London’s main parks such as Hyde Park or Kew Gardens Park.

Organisers of The Climate Camp have announced a series of multiple locations to start a ‘flash mob’ or ‘swoop’ approach by demonstrators, using social network sites such as Twitter and Facebook as well as SMS via mobile communication to orchestrate rendezvous points within the Capital.

A complex system of colour-coded geographical locations is being mooted by activist websites to ensure that the final meeting points (which have turned out to be on Blackheath and outside the European Climate Exchange in The City) remained confidential for as long as possible. Nevertheless, organisers have stressed that the City of London will be the main location of protest activity during the week.

Extra vigilance will be needed

G4S warns of the need for businesses to be extra vigilant throughout the Climate Camp, and advises taking reasonable steps to minimise the risk of disruption to business activity.

Stephen Midani, managing director for G4S in The City of London, told SMT Online: “It is not just financial services companies looking for additional security assistance. We’ve also seen increased demand from a number of power and utilities companies expecting protest activity throughout the summer."

Midani continued: “Factors such as the financial crisis and the wider economic downturn appear to have stimulated an increase in activism and organisations are finding that they need specialist help to protect their properties and their staff.”

Replication of the G20 scenario

The Climate Camp is aiming to replicate the protest action that was carried out during the G20 Summit last April. Financial institutions, energy companies and organisations associated with transport and aviation are again expected to be high-profile targets.

However, protest groups may select new targets across London, particularly those associated with biofuels and controversial techniques such as Carbon Trading and Carbon Capture Storage, which will form a major thread of the protest action. The head offices of businesses associated with the highlighted sectors are expected to remain targets of choice during the week-long camp.

G4S: taking action

G4S has deployed specialist staff from across its business over the last few months to ensure its customers’ security. These specialist requirements have included the deployment of former British Army Gurkhas from G4S Gurkha Services to protect sensitive utilities sites and experts from G4S Events to consult on the security of high profile events.