Police have detained 14 climate activists following a protest by Elokapina, the Finnish branch of the Extinction Rebellion movement, outside City Hall in downtown Helsinki on Friday evening.

Police said the protestors are being held on suspected charges of disobedience towards a police officer.

The protest was timed to coincide with the final day of the Climate Change Conference in the Scottish city of Glasgow, the climate action group said.

Organisers had not informed authorities that they would be holding the protest, which caused some disruptions to traffic in the centre of the capital, according to the Helsinki Police Department.

Protestors initially gathered at the Havis Amanda statue before spreading out to the surrounding streets. Police noted that there were around 40 people blocking the road when they arrived to disperse the gathering.

Elokapina has arranged a number of protests in the capital area this autumn, including a ten-day 'Autumn Rebellion' (Syyskapina in Finnish) which included protestors chaining themselves to the entrance of the Government Palace building in October.

The action group has called for Finland's government to declare a climate and environmental emergency, and to create binding legislation that will achieve carbon neutrality by 2025, a decade ahead of the government's current goal of 2035.