Climate campaigners disrupted a council meeting in Enfield to warn councillors “the moment of crisis has come”.

Members of Extinction Rebellion Enfield interrupted a full council meeting on Wednesday (January 29) minutes after it began, urging the local authority to do more to tackle climate change.

Despite Mayor of Enfield Kate Anolue repeatedly asking them to stop, the protest continued, and the meeting was temporarily adjourned.

Extinction Rebellion has repeatedly made headlines with its high-profile protests, including large demonstrations in central London that blocked roads last year.

On Wednesday, the campaigners welcomed the council’s declaration of a climate emergency in July but criticised an apparent lack of progress since then.

Speaking from the public gallery, a member of the group announced: “This is an emergency. NASA, the NOAA [the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration] and the UK Met Office have confirmed the decade running up to 2019 was the warmest on record.

“The intergovernmental panel on climate change declared business as usual will result in 4.8-degree warming by the end of the century, with catastrophic consequences – food scarcity, flooding, elevated disease levels and a likely breakdown in society.

“The moment of crisis has come.”

He added that six months after the declaration of a climate emergency, it appeared to be “business as usual” from the council.

The campaigners said they had asked the council to establish a baseline for carbon emissions to measure progress towards achieving net zero, to commit to switching the council’s energy supplier to a 100 per cent renewable provider and to commit to the divestment of council pension funds from fossil fuels.

They added: “Since July, we have had several meetings and email communications with the council, but so far they have seen it fit for it to be treated with a severe lack of urgency.

“In six months, the council has met just twice to discuss the issue. Once again, the climate emergency does not feature on tonight’s council agenda. We have been told we must expect Enfield to move slowly, as it is a large organisation with over 8,000 employees.

“But despite employing so many, just one part-time consultant has been assigned a task of establishing a carbon baseline and a climate change strategy.

“We have been told it would take a year to finalise the strategy, and that the council would not act until it is in place. How does this reflect any sort of urgency and priority?”

The protestors claimed the council had “declined to commit to a renewable energy supplier on the grounds of cost” and had “yet to make a commitment to pension divestment”.

Councillors were directed out of the chamber and remained there for several minutes until the meeting was able to resume.

Speaking after the meeting, an Enfield Council spokesperson said: “Enfield Council takes tackling climate change seriously and is moving quickly to implement our commitment to be carbon neutral.

“Since 2011 Enfield Council has reduced its carbon footprint by 45 per cent, exceeding its carbon reduction target three years early.

“The borough itself is on track for a 40 per cent reduction in its carbon footprint by 2020, despite a rapidly growing population.

“We are now aiming to reduce the council’s carbon footprint by 60 per cent by 2025 and to be completely carbon neutral no later than 2030.

“We sympathise with Extinction Rebellion’s aims and support their right to peaceful protest, and we have welcomed their discussions with cabinet members in recent months.

“We encourage them to continue to engage the council in constructive dialogue rather than undertaking disruptive and divisive activities in council meetings.

“The chair of the Climate Change Task Force set up by the council continues to meet Extinction Rebellion regularly.”