Climate activists of Just Stop Oil They painted on Monday on the grave of the British naturalist Charles Darwin in the Abbey of westminster from London.
Two activists entered Westminster Abbey – the British site of royal weddings, coronations and burials and a major tourist attraction – on Monday morning and used spray chalk on Darwin’s gravethe campaign group said in a statement.
The activists they wrote “1.5 is dead” in orange on the surface of the white marble tombstone, a reference to the recent news that global temperatures in 2024 had exceeded 1.5 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial era for the first time, breaching the Paris Agreement.
“We have surpassed the 1.5 degree threshold that was supposed to keep us safe”said one of the activists. “Darwin would turn in his grave knowing that we are in the middle of the sixth mass extinction.”
Darwin, best known for his theory of evolution by natural selectiondied in 1882. He is buried in the Scientists’ Corner of Westminster Abbey, where Isaac Newton and Stephen Hawking are also buried.
The abbey confirmed the incident in a statement. “The Abbey conservators are taking immediate steps to clean the monument and do not anticipate there will be any permanent damage,” a spokeswoman said.
“Police attended the scene and dealt with the incident.. The abbey remains open for visits and worship.
The London Metropolitan Police said that two women were arrested on suspicion of causing criminal damage at Westminster Abbey and taken to a central London police station.
Just Stop Oil activists have organized a series of high-profile protests in Britain, including disrupting sporting and theater events, painting on the US embassy building in London and throwing soup at Van Gogh paintings.
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