It’s the sort of stunt you’d expect James Bond to be involved in – but six activists have scaled the Shard in London in protest against Shell’s drilling plans in the Arctic.

Starting around dawn, the six women from Greenpeace had reached the 100m mark – nearly a third of the way up the iconic skyscraper – by around 11am. The climb is being streamed live online and more than 10,000 people have tuned in to watch.

The campaign group says it targeted the building because it “sits slap bang in the middle of Shell’s three London headquarters. They don’t want us talking about their plan to drill in the Arctic. We’re here to shout about it from the rooftops.”

Greenpeace says the women went through “intensive” training before the escapade which has attracted huge interest online.

Hundreds tweeted about the so-called “ice climb” and one user called SupermanTweets even joked: “I’ll be around… Just in case.” Greenpeace replied: “Thanks but we’ve got it covered.”

Film star Ewan McGregor even tweeted a link to the live video feed, praising their “Amazing bravery.”

The oil firm itself tried to be as neutral as possible in its response to the shenanigans.

A Shell spokesperson said: “We respect the right of individuals and organisations to engage in a free and frank exchange of views about our operations. Recognising the right of individuals to express their point of view, we only ask that they do so with their safety and the safety of others in mind.”