Climate activists targets Charles Darwin’s grave with ‘1.5 is dead’ message | World News – Times of India
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Two activists from the group Just Stop Oil (JSO) painted Charles Darwin’s grave at Westminster Abbey with the message “1.5 is dead.” This action, carried out on Monday morning, follows the announcement that global temperatures have surpassed the critical 1.5°C threshold set by the Paris Agreement. The protest, which was aimed at drawing attention to the urgent need for the UK government to phase out fossil fuels, has sparked significant controversy.
The two activists, named by JSO as Alyson Lee, 66, a retired teaching assistant, and Di Bligh, 77, a former council CEO, entered the historic Abbey at around 10.00am and used spray chalk to inscribe their message on the grave of the famed biologist.
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JSO said that the act was a response to the news that global temperatures had exceeded the 1.5°C warming limit for the first time, with the group quoting the alarming figures released by Europe’s climate monitor. “2024 was the hottest year on record. We have passed the 1.5 degree threshold that was supposed to keep us safe,” the group’s press release read.
Both Lee and Bligh were arrested by the Metropolitan Police on suspicion of criminal damage. Police confirmed that they had been detained at the scene and taken to a central London station where they remain in custody. “Police were called following reports that the women had been detained by security,” a police spokesperson said. The spokesperson for Westminster Abbey reassured the public that the damage was temporary, and there was no lasting harm to the site.
In their statements, the protesters explained the motivations behind their actions. Lee described the situation as an urgent climate crisis, stating, “Ten years on from the Paris Agreement, we have already exceeded the so-called safe temperature rise of 1.5 degrees… We need mass civil disobedience now, join us on the streets and help us reclaim parliament this April.” Bligh added, “We are on course to lose everything, and politicians are doing nowhere near enough to prevent it. How many will we have to bury as a result of climate breakdown and who will be left to mourn them?”
The action is the latest in a series of high-profile and disruptive demonstrations by Just Stop Oil, which has targeted everything from iconic artworks to historic monuments. Previous protests have included throwing soup over Vincent van Gogh’s “Sunflowers” and spraying paint at Stonehenge. JSO’s aggressive tactics have drawn both praise for highlighting the urgency of climate action and criticism for disrupting public life and heritage sites.
This latest protest comes as Los Angeles grapples with devastating wildfires, exacerbated by climate change, and as the world faces increasingly severe environmental challenges.
Two activists from the group Just Stop Oil (JSO) painted Charles Darwin’s grave at Westminster Abbey with the message “1.5 is dead.” This action, carried out on Monday morning, follows the announcement that global temperatures have surpassed the critical 1.5°C threshold set by the Paris Agreement. The protest, which was aimed at drawing attention to the urgent need for the UK government to phase out fossil fuels, has sparked significant controversy.
The two activists, named by JSO as Alyson Lee, 66, a retired teaching assistant, and Di Bligh, 77, a former council CEO, entered the historic Abbey at around 10.00am and used spray chalk to inscribe their message on the grave of the famed biologist.
JSO said that the act was a response to the news that global temperatures had exceeded the 1.5°C warming limit for the first time, with the group quoting the alarming figures released by Europe’s climate monitor. “2024 was the hottest year on record. We have passed the 1.5 degree threshold that was supposed to keep us safe,” the group’s press release read.
Both Lee and Bligh were arrested by the Metropolitan Police on suspicion of criminal damage. Police confirmed that they had been detained at the scene and taken to a central London station where they remain in custody. “Police were called following reports that the women had been detained by security,” a police spokesperson said. The spokesperson for Westminster Abbey reassured the public that the damage was temporary, and there was no lasting harm to the site.
In their statements, the protesters explained the motivations behind their actions. Lee described the situation as an urgent climate crisis, stating, “Ten years on from the Paris Agreement, we have already exceeded the so-called safe temperature rise of 1.5 degrees… We need mass civil disobedience now, join us on the streets and help us reclaim parliament this April.” Bligh added, “We are on course to lose everything, and politicians are doing nowhere near enough to prevent it. How many will we have to bury as a result of climate breakdown and who will be left to mourn them?”
The action is the latest in a series of high-profile and disruptive demonstrations by Just Stop Oil, which has targeted everything from iconic artworks to historic monuments. Previous protests have included throwing soup over Vincent van Gogh’s “Sunflowers” and spraying paint at Stonehenge. JSO’s aggressive tactics have drawn both praise for highlighting the urgency of climate action and criticism for disrupting public life and heritage sites.
This latest protest comes as Los Angeles grapples with devastating wildfires, exacerbated by climate change, and as the world faces increasingly severe environmental challenges.
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