Just Stop Oil has given TWO famous statues an orange makeover

Just Stop Oil is famous for a) blocking roads, b) throwing soup, c) annoying the right wing, and d) doing more to raise awareness about the climate crisis than any other campaign group in recent years. Now, it’s turned it’s attention to statues as another line of defence against climate-wrecking capitalists.

Just Stop Oil says Just Stop Famine

Firstly, a statue of the Greek goddess Demeter at the British Museum got the Just Stop Oil treatment on Friday 25 October with a speech bubble reading “Just Stop Famine” and high viz vest:

The statue of Demeter is a life-size, seated ancient Greek statue dating from around 350 BC. Demeter was the goddess of agriculture and of fertility who created the harvest, the grain, and other crops as well as the circle of seasons.

The action follows the publication earlier this week of an open letter from some of the world’s top climate scientists.

They are warning that the risks of a collapse in the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) have been “greatly underestimated” and that a collapse would have devastating and irreversible impacts, including potentially threatening the viability of agriculture in northwestern Europe.

According to a earlier study, the UK could see temperatures plunge by up to 10C and the report’s authors say that “no realistic adaptation measures can deal with such rapid temperature changes”.

AMOC collapsing?

Even before a collapse in AMOC, the climate crisis is already having a dramatic effect on our ability to grow food. Farmers in England experienced the second-worst harvest on record this year because of heavy rain made worse by climate change, while Scottish farmers described this year’s growing season as ‘the toughest in 30 years’.

Meanwhile tens of millions of people in Southern Africa are facing starvation as rising temperatures have fuelled the worst drought in a century, severely impacting food production across the region. Five countries have declared national disasters.

A Just Stop Oil spokesperson said:

Famine or a world without oil. What’s it to be? The climate crisis is threatening our food security and these impacts will only get worse until we stop burning fossil fuels. If you think famine only happens elsewhere, think again.

Our rich nation status will not protect us from what is coming. A collapse in the Atlantic ocean currents would destroy our ability to grow food and you can’t eat money.

Deeds, not words

Then, a statue of Emmeline Pankhurst, the suffragette leader, in Manchester got the Just Stop Oil treatment on Saturday 26 October with a speech bubble reading “Deeds not words: Just Stop Oil” and high viz vest. These props were later removed by Highway Maintenance workers:

Emmeline Pankhurst, a leading British women’s rights activist, founded the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU), an all-women suffrage advocacy organisation dedicated to “deeds, not words”.

The statue, Rise up, women (Emmeline Pankhurst, 1858–1928), was created by award-winning sculptor Hazel Reeves and shows Emmeline standing on a chair addressing a mass demonstration. It is only the second ever statue of a woman in Manchester and was installed in St Peter’s Square in 2018 after the Moss Side-born suffragette was selected by public vote to be immortalised in bronze.

In 2022, Helen Pankhurst, the great-granddaughter of Emmeline, wrote:

My suffragette grandmothers are now seen as heroes. Today’s climate protesters will be too…Environmentalists of all forms have the moral high ground. I have absolutely no doubt that in 100 years’ time they will be seen as the real heroes. Those who ignored the warning bells will be – nay, already are – on the wrong side of history.

Just Stop Oil: no more hot air

The action follows the publication of the UN emissions gap report which confirmed that the continuation of current policies will lead to a catastrophic temperature rise of up to 3.1°C. Launching the report, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said:

There is a direct link between increasing emissions and increasingly frequent and intense climate disasters. Around the world, people are paying a terrible price.

Inger Andersen, Executive Director of UNEP said.

I urge every nation: no more hot air, please. Use the upcoming COP29 talks in Baku, Azerbaijan, to increase action now.

A Just Stop Oil spokesperson said:

Emmeline Pankhurst once said: ‘we are showing them that government does not rest upon force at all: it rests upon consent’. Well, we do not consent to government plans to continue burning more oil and gas for decades to come. We do not consent to plans that will lead to 3C of global warming destroying our ability to grow food and meet basic needs for our families.

We do not consent to enriching the few at the expense of the many. It is long past time for deeds not words. If governments won’t stop oil we need to replace them or we all die.

Out on 2 November

You can join Just Stop Oil and others in Parliament Square on Saturday 2 November at 11:30am to take part in the Politics is Broken bloc at the Palestine Solidarity Campaign’s National Palestine March.

Read more on that here.

Featured image and additional images via Just Stop Oil