The reason the rebels are calling for action is the increasing urgency over tackling the climate crisis. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warned in a report earlier this month that the target for limiting global heating set out in the Paris Agreement – of limiting global warming to well below 2C – is slipping beyond reach.

According to its most comprehensive assessment yet, some of the effects of warming, such as global sea level rises, could be “irreversible for centuries to millennia”.

A lobby group that works to “create a more just and equal world” has defended Extinction Rebellion’s direct action against financial institutions as “a legitimate non-violent political tactic”, calling it “a modest response to the death and destruction fuelled by the City”.

Daniel Willis, campaigns and policy manager at Global Justice Now, said: “It is heartening to see Extinction Rebellion highlight the role of the City of London in bankrolling climate chaos.

“Direct action is a legitimate nonviolent political tactic – and a modest response to the death and destruction fuelled by the City.

“Whether it’s financing fossil fuels, using trade rules to remove environmental protections, or demanding debt repayments that prevent the global south from investing in climate adaptation, these corporations and financial institutions are deeply embedded in the root cause of the climate crisis – our global economic system.”

There was applause from XR supporters as fake blood was spilled on the pavement outside the offices of Capita in the City of London.

Police appeared to arrest one woman.

A report earlier this year by Greenpeace UK and WWF claimed that UK banks and asset managers financed 805 million tonnes of damaging carbon dioxide in 2019, which would make the City of London the ninth-biggest emitter of CO2 in the world if it were a country – ranked higher than Germany.

The Independent’s James Moore has previously argued banks need to do more:

Police arrested and led away two people in handcuffs.

“Go to hell, Shell,” said one man arrested. A woman was grabbed by police trying to open a bag of red ‘bloody’ water, writes reporter Celine Wadhera.

Extinction Rebellion supporters descended on the Bank of England in the City of London from midday, calling for an end to investment in fossil fuels.

In what they termed a “blood money” march, the crowds carrying banners saying “People before profit” walked through streets, stopping traffic, and daubed Guildhall in red paint.

The group said they had only just started to disrupt the City of London.

Demonstrators have daubed the outside of Standard Chartered bank in the City of London with red paint and handprints.

There were chants of “Extinction Rebellion – the people united will never be defeated”.