Stay informed with free updates
Simply sign up to the Climate change myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox.
Just Stop Oil, the climate activist group, has said it is ending its protest campaign after its demand to end new oil and gas licences became UK government policy.
The group, which gained notoriety for throwing cornstarch on Stonehenge and paint on Vincent van Gogh’s Sunflowers, said it was “hanging up the hi vis” and stopping direct action from the end of April after “one of the most successful civil resistance campaigns in recent history”.
“Just Stop Oil’s initial demand to end new oil and gas is now government policy . . . We’ve kept over 4.4bn barrels of oil in the ground and the courts have ruled new oil and gas licences unlawful,” it said.
The Labour government is currently consulting on the future of North Sea energy, including on how to deliver its manifesto commitment not to issue licences to explore new fields while not revoking existing licences.
JSO’s decision comes amid growing questions over the effectiveness of disruptive protests. The group’s actions, including blocking major roads such as the M25 and targeting sporting events, have often been unpopular with the public and increasingly struggled to gain media attention.
Climate activists are also much more likely to receive jail terms now compared with when the group was founded three years ago, after the previous government introduced new rules cracking down on protest.
JSO said many of its supporters already “take action with other groups” and this was expected to continue.
“This is not the end of civil resistance. Governments everywhere are retreating from doing what is needed to protect us from the consequences of unchecked fossil fuel burning,” it added.
The group said it will hold one final protest in April in Parliament Square in London and was drawing up a fresh strategy.
Valerie Brown, who described herself as an ambassador for JSO, said the spate of climate protests that emerged from 2019 in the UK were “exactly the right thing to do” at the time but the climate movement was “evolving and growing”.
During its three-year history JSO said its supporters were arrested 3,300 times and imprisoned 180 times.
Many members of the group have received long prison terms for their actions, including co-founder Roger Hallam, who was jailed for five years — reduced to four years on appeal — for his role in organising a protest that brought the M25 ring road around London to a standstill.
Many others have outstanding trials. JSO said it would continue to support those on trial and in prison, as well as “call out the UK’s oppressive anti-protest laws”.
Will McCallum, co-executive director of Greenpeace UK, said: “Just Stop Oil paid a heavy price for raising their voices at a time when politicians and corporations are trying to silence peaceful protesters — in the streets and in the courts.”
Research from academics at Bristol university found that when the group initially began their protest campaign, the media would print longer quotes from its members explaining their demands. But within a year, the coverage focused increasingly on the disruption or shock value, it found.
Climate Capital
Where climate change meets business, markets and politics. Explore the FT’s coverage here.
Are you curious about the FT’s environmental sustainability commitments? Find out more about our science-based targets here
