‘The end of soup on van Goghs’: Just Stop Oil to halt its climate protests

• Just Stop Oil announced it would stop its “controversial” protests at the end of April, stating that its campaign has contributed to progress in climate policy. The group has advocated for an end to oil and gas extraction in the United Kingdom by 2030.
• While Just Stop Oil says the decision to end its demonstrations is a result of the Labour Party’s commitment to ending new gas and oil projects, a spokesperson for British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has denied this is the government’s position.
• The organization plans to shift its activism strategy, arguing that systemic political corruption requires new approaches beyond public demonstrations.

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Just Stop Oil, the climate activist group known for staging some of the United Kingdom’s most high-profile protests in recent years, has announced it will step back from these types of demonstrations at the end of April. The organization advocated for the U.K. to end oil and gas extraction by 2030. They also employed what has been described as “controversial” tactics to raise awareness of its cause.

“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,” Just Stop Oil said in a statement. “It is the end of soup on Van Goghs, cornstarch on Stonehenge and slow marching in the streets. But it is not the end of trials, of tagging and surveillance, of fines, probation and years in prison.”

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Why have Just Stop Oil protests generated controversy?

The group has gained widespread attention for its protest actions. They include throwing soup at a Vincent van Gogh painting and spraying paint on Stonehenge. They also poured liquid latex over a robot at a Tesla store.

Just Stop Oil claims these methods have contributed to keeping 4.4 million barrels of oil in the ground. They say the methods were necessary to highlight the urgency of climate action.

Why is Just Stop Oil stepping back from these types of protests?

According to Just Stop Oil, the decision to halt this campaign of demonstrations follows what it views as progress toward its objectives. The organization asserts that the U.K.’s Labour Party has committed to ending new gas and oil projects as part of its government policy.

However, a spokesperson for British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has refuted this claim. The spokesperson said Just Stop Oil caused “a significant amount of disruption and public nuisance” and that the government intends to continue utilizing oil and gas resources for the foreseeable future.

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What happens next?

The group’s final planned protest is scheduled to take place outside the U.K. Parliament on April 26. Despite ending its current methods, Just Stop Oil insists this is not the end of its civil resistance efforts.

The organization has indicated plans to explore alternative approaches, claiming that “corporations and billionaires are corrupting political systems” worldwide. In their view, they say “nothing short of a revolution” will bring about necessary change.