Two Just Stop Oil activists have been arrested after they defaced Charles Darwin’s grave in Westminster Abbey.
Police led the two protesters away after they used chalk spray to write “1.5 is Dead” on the naturalist’s grave at around 10am on Monday.
The group said the graffiti was a reference to the news that the planet has experienced the first year in which temperatures have exceeded the target of limiting global warming to 1.5C above pre-industrial times.
One of the protestors Di Bligh, a former chief executive of Reading Council, told reporters: “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.”
A Metropolitan Police spokesperson said the pair were arrested “on suspicion of causing criminal damage with what is believed to be powdered paint at Westminster Abbey”.
A Westminster Abbey spokesperson confirmed that the orange chalk had been sprayed on the stone and said: “The Abbey’s conservators are taking immediate action to clean the memorial and do not anticipate that there will be any permanent damage.”
They added that the Abbey remains open for visiting and worshipping.
The other protester, Alyson Lee, a retired teaching assistant from Derby, said: “We are trying to get the government to act on climate change. They are not doing enough.”
She 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.”
The EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) confirmed on Friday that last year was the warmest on record globally and the first calendar year in which the average temperature reached more than 1.5C above pre-industrial levels.
Analysis from the Met Office, the University of East Anglia and the National Centre for Atmospheric Science also found 2024 was the hottest on record, and “likely” the first year exceeding 1.5C.
According to Just Stop Oil, Ms Lee could be heard saying: “Ten years on from the Paris Agreement, we have already exceeded the so-called safe temperature rise of 1.5 degrees, and are heading for over three degrees of warming.
“This rapidly accelerating crisis means huge parts of the world will become unable to support life, resulting in millions of refugees, social collapse and extinction for countless species.”
She also called for “mass civil disobedience” and urged people to “join us on the streets and help us reclaim parliament this April”, according to the group.
The protest came as wildfires in Los Angeles continue to rage, having burned more than 40,000 acres and claimed at least 24 lives.
Many experts believe the effects of climate change have contributed to the US disaster.
Just Stop Oil said in a statement: “Today’s action comes as the death toll rises to 24 in California, as fires continue to rip across the state.
“The fires have been driven by climate breakdown after decades of drought, followed by rapid swings between extreme wet and dry conditions in the past two years.
“This has created large areas of ‘tinder dry’ vegetation, creating the perfect conditions for uncontrollable wildfires.”
