Just Stop Oil (JSO) supporters have spray-painted “1.5 is dead” on Charles Darwin’s grave following confirmation that last year was the first to breach the key global warming threshold. Two people used chalk paint on the 19th-century biologist’s grave in Westminster Abbey, London, at about 9.30am on Monday, the climate protest group said.
Alyson Lee, 66, a retired teaching assistant from Derby, and Di Bligh, a 77-year-old former chief executive of Reading Council, from Rode, were involved in the action, JSO added. Police led two women away from Westminster Abbey after the protest. Ms Lee told the PA news agency: “We are trying to get the Government to act on climate change. They are not doing enough.”.
The other activist, Ms Bligh, told PA: “We’ve done this because there’s no hope for the world, really. “We’ve done it on Darwin’s grave specifically because he would be turning in that grave because of the sixth mass extinction taking place now.”.
Ms Lee added: “I believe he would approve because he was a good scientist and he would be following the science, and he would be as upset as us with the Government for ignoring the science.”. According to JSO, the two supporters were heard saying: “2024 was the hottest year on record. We have passed the 1.5 degree threshold that was supposed to keep us safe.
