Climate activists in Britain are now much more likely to receive jail terms compared with when the group was founded, after the previous Conservative government introduced new rules cracking down on protest.
Right-wing media in particular became vocal in its opposition, and members faced harsh legal consequences, including lengthy prison sentences for key activists such as Roger Hallam.
The group’s activists wear head cages during a protest outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London in January.Credit: Getty Images
Hallam was jailed in July over a plot to disrupt M25 traffic that involved 45 people climbing onto gantries over the motorway.
Research from Bristol University academics recently revealed that at the outset of the group’s protest campaign, the media was more likely to include lengthy quotes from members outlining their demands. However, within a year, media coverage began to shift, with increasing emphasis placed on the disruption caused and the shock value of the group’s actions.
Last week, nine Just Stop Oil protesters were convicted after police intervened to prevent them from gluing themselves to the runways at Heathrow Airport.
Seven of the demonstrators, aged between 26 and 61, were arrested after they were found with glue and angle grinders close to the perimeter fence of the airport in July 2024.
Just Stop Oil protesters threw tinned soup at Vincent Van Gogh’s famous 1888 work Sunflowers, then glued themselves to the wall at the National Gallery in London in 2022.Credit: AP
According to its website, most of the group’s money came from the Climate Emergency Fund – a US network that has supported climate activism since 2019. It is part-funded by US philanthropist Aileen Getty, a granddaughter of petrol tycoon J. Paul Getty.
“Just Stop Oil was intended to be a campaign to prove the effectiveness of disruptive tactics in bringing about necessary change, and we have been incredibly successful in that aim, but it’s now time to change,” the statement said.
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Despite stepping back from its disruptive protests, the group remained defiant, and many of its supporters already “take action with other groups”.
In a warning that global warming is likely to exceed 2 degrees by the 2030s, the group said: “This is not the end of civil resistance. Governments everywhere are retreating from necessary action to protect us from the consequences of unchecked fossil fuel consumption. We are preparing a new strategy to confront this reality – nothing short of a revolution will protect us from the storms ahead.”
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