On the day the world finally enacted the Kyoto protocol, thirty-five Greenpeace volunteers halt trading on the global oil market by occupying the International Petroleum Exchange (IPE) in London. Activists entered the high security building near Tower Bridge shortly before 2pm, just as the world market in Brent crude was about to switch to London. They attached distress alarms to helium balloons, blew foghorns and handcuffed themselves to the trading pit, forcing the exchange to shut down. Later, Greenpeace activists distrupted the oil industry's most prestigious annual gathering at Grosvenor House Hotel. Climbers hung banner reading 'Climate Change Kills Oil Industry Party' on front of hotel as activist blockaded the hotel entrance as Middle East energy ministers and the heads of some of the world's most powerful companies arrived.