YYou may have seen the headline: Tomato soup thrown into Van Gogh's famous painting sunflower Protesters disrupt live musical performance as vegan chocolate cake is launched towards Madame Tussauds painting, King Charles III Les Miserables.
These viral protests are the work of Just Stop Oil, a British activist group opposed to new fossil fuel projects in the UK to fight climate change, which has garnered a lot of attention in less than two years. , aroused both praise and criticism.
As the group makes headlines again, here's what you need to know about the climate change activist group.
What is Just Stop Oil and what does the group want?
Just Stop Oil describes itself as a “non-violent civil resistance organization calling on the UK government to end the approval of all new oil, gas and coal projects”.
In its campaign briefing and public research documents, the group argues that new fossil fuel extraction will “kill our children and condemn humanity to oblivion” and that human-induced climate change is a “greenhouse”. It will destroy human civilization unless urgent measures are taken to rapidly reduce these gases.” Reduce emissions to zero in a very short period of time. ”
The group aims to achieve this by switching UK government subsidies for the oil and gas industry towards clean energy, public transport and insulation to reduce energy consumption. The report urges governments to either transition to sustainable energy by “creating millions of decent, skilled jobs and protecting the rights of workers in sunset industries” or to help society's “inevitable They are asking us to wait for the collapse.
Who is behind the group?
Just Stop Oil is a non-hierarchical coalition of organizers, scientists, lawyers and former oil industry workers, and operates in autonomous blocs without formal leadership, the organization's public figures say. said Indigo Rumbelow, the face of the company. guardian last year. The group was formed in December 2021 but only went public in February 2022, she said.
According to the same article, the group's “adviser” is Roger Hallam, who is identified elsewhere as a co-founder. He says he was an organic farmer in Wales before becoming an activist. Hallam also founded a similar climate change protest group, Extinction Rebellion.
Just Stop Oil is funded by public, private and grant contributions. From March to August 2023, the group will receive 51% of its funding from public donations, 21% from donations of over £20,000, 16% from green energy entrepreneur Dale Vince and 10% from donations. from Hollywood director Adam McKay and 2% from a US-based organization. The group told TIME in an emailed statement to the Climate Emergency Fund on Nov. 11. The organization did not disclose the total amount of donations it received.
Vince wrote guardian He said he had donated more than £340,000 to the charity and announced that it would withdraw funding in October 2023, arguing that change at the voting booth was more effective than protesting and urging people to “take care of the planet”. “Vote to save it,” he urged.
The Climate Emergency Fund was created with funding from oil tycoon J. Paul Getty's granddaughter and heiress Eileen Getty, he said in an op-ed. guardian She was proud to support Just Stop Oil.
The group's website says the money is used for recruitment, training, development, education, refreshments, accommodation and transportation.
What is the largest protest this group has ever staged?
Just Stop Oil has given the UK government an ultimatum to comply with its demands by March 14, 2022. When the government did not respond, the group began staging protests and disruptions to draw attention to their cause, including climbing on oil tankers and sabotaging the British Academy. Film Awards (BAFTA) red carpet event.
In the most high-profile incident, in October 2022, two members of the group were photographed throwing chocolate cake at King Charles III's Madame Tussauds. They denied the criminal charges but were found guilty at trial and ordered by a judge to pay £3,500. ($4,278) was paid to the museum in January as compensation to repair the figure. The group has also repeatedly targeted art in museums, sparking similar protests across Europe.
In July 2022, five activists were arrested after supergluing their hands to the frame of a Leonardo da Vinci replica. Last Supper This is a painting at the Royal Academy in London, with the words “NO NEW OIL'' spray-painted on the wall.
Last October, two people wearing bright orange Just Stop Oil T-shirts opened a can of tomato soup and dumped the liquid on Van Gogh's work. sunflower He painted a picture in the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square and then glued his hand to the wall. The painting was covered with glass so there were no scratches.
Why is “Just Stop Oil” in the news again?
On October 4, 2023, Just Stop Oil suspended live performances of West End musicals. Les Miserablescausing production to be stopped.
On November 6, two protesters were arrested for breaking the glass protecting Diego Velazquez's 1600s Rokeby Venus painting at the National Gallery. The same painting was slashed in protest by suffragist Mary Richardson in 1914.
In a recent controversial incident on November 8, a protester lied down on Waterloo Bridge in London. Police accused the group's protests of causing traffic jams and blocking the passage of ambulances with blue lights.the ambulance driver said telegraph paper He was responding to a “life-or-death emergency” and begged police to let him pass.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Just Stop Oil accused police of blocking an ambulance. In a separate post and an emailed statement to TIME, the group said it had a policy of allowing ambulances with green lights to pass, but that “our actions still cause chaos.” I acknowledge that I am causing this,” he added.
“The options available to ordinary people to resist criminal government actions are limited,” the statement said.
The group said it was too early to say in a Freedom of Information request whether there was an ambulance delay in the incident, citing previous requests in which the group was similarly accused but which did not indicate an ambulance delay. It is said that it was not.
The group announced on its website that it had tracked the arrests of more than 300 members between October 30 and November 11 during a series of protests.
In an update shared on November 8, police announced that they had arrested 219 people and charged 98 activists during the same period. “Ultimately, Londoners are bearing the brunt and cost of the Just Stop Oil mess,” the Metropolitan Police wrote.
Just Stop Oil is also planning a “People vs. Oil” protest march in London on November 18th. ”everyone is invited“Come send a clear message that you do not support new oil and gas,” the group posted on X.
Does the group’s behavior have an impact?
The UK government has been moving in the opposite direction of Just Stop Oil's goal since the climate change activist group was launched, namely to stop licensing new fossil fuel facilities in the UK.
The British government, under Conservative Chancellor Rishi Sunak, has announced it will authorize new oil and gas drilling in the North Sea, in the King's annual speech to Parliament on November 7. This was confirmed in the King's speech.
Sunak's government said the move was to ensure Britain's energy independence, especially at a time when dependence on Russian energy sources had driven up prices during the Ukraine war.
To allay concerns about climate change, the government said annual licensing rounds would only take place if key tests supporting the transition to net-zero emissions were met. Sunak's government had already watered down the policy and pushed back several deadlines to get it to net zero.
But change may be on the horizon. Mr Sunak's Conservative Party replaced two prime ministers in a chaotic 2022, but lost local elections and could struggle in the general election.
Labor leader Keir Starmer said in June that he would halt new licenses for oil and gas fields if he came to power, but in August he announced that existing licenses and commitments would be suspended to ensure a managed energy transition. He made it clear that he had no intention of abolishing the approval granted to him, and called on him by phone as follows: However, the request to stop oil is “despicable.”
Asked whether the group's actions had an impact, or what it would take to have an impact, Just Stop Oil said in an emailed statement that, with the exception of the Conservative Party, its demands It claimed to be supported by Britain's main political parties, the United Nations and others. International organization. “We have no doubt that we will win,” the group said. “It's not a matter of if, but when.”
