In a statement released yesterday, climate action group Just Stop Oil announced the end of its civil resistance campaign.
“Three years after bursting on the scene in a blaze of orange, at the end of April we will be hanging up the hi vis,” said the organisation.
“Just Stop Oil’s initial demand to end new oil and gas is now government policy, making us one of the most successful civil resistance campaigns in recent history. We’ve kept over 4.4 billion barrels of oil in the ground and the courts have ruled new oil and gas licences unlawful.”
No new oil and gas licenses
The UK’s Labour Government has announced it will not grant new oil and gas exploration licences. Recent court rulings have stopped fossil fuel projects, which include oil drilling in Surrey, a coal mine in Cumbria, and the Rosebank and Jackdaw fields in the North Sea.
A final protest will take place in Parliament Square on 26 April. However, the statement continued:
“But is not the end of trials, of tagging and surveillance, of fines, probation and years in prison. We have exposed the corruption at the heart of our legal system, which protects those causing death and destruction while prosecuting those seeking to minimize harm. Just Stop Oil will continue to tell the truth in the courts, speak out for our political prisoners and call out the UK’s oppressive anti-protest laws.”
Climate action targets museums
The museum sector has been targetted by Just Stop Oil’s actions over the last three years, including soup being thrown at paintings and a dinosaur being covered in orange powder. This led to increased security measures and some industry leaders calling for the actions to stop.
In an exclusive interview with blooloop for the greenloop conference in 2023, Just Stop Oil supporter Eddie Whittingham called on cultural institutions to make public statements supporting Just Stop Oil’s demand for the UK government to ban all new fossil fuel licenses and consents.
He said, “you don’t have to like us, you don’t have to like what we’re doing”, but that museums and art galleries should “acknowledge that the situation that we’re in is absolutely desperate, and call on the government to end all new fossil fuel licences.”
The session also features Professor Colin Davis, Chair in Cognitive Psychology at the University of Bristol, who explained the psychology underpinning the tactics of radical action. You can watch the session here.
greenloop 25
greenloop 25 takes place online on 13 & 14 May.
Tickets are £20 each, and group tickets are £50 for 5 – just £10 each! Please join us if you’re interested to learn how the visitor attractions industry is taking action to combat climate change, and find out what you can do!
Images: Just Stop Oil
