Just Stop Oil — The unlikely ESG warriors?
From Campbell to Heinz, tomato soup is yet again at the centre of the art scene…
“It is not the language of painters but the language of nature which one should listen to, the feeling for the things themselves, for reality is more important than the feeling for pictures.” — Vincent van Gogh
What is going on?
By now, you have probably seen the video of the environmental group Just Stop Oil throwing a can of tomato soup on Vincent van Gogh’s Sunflowers and glueing themselves onto the wall of the National Gallery in London. Since the video went viral, the UK activist group splashed paint on luxury car dealerships, halted traffic in central London and caked a wax statue of King Charles III all in the name of climate emergency.
The internet seems to be divided; some applaud the bold actions of the Just Stop Oil movement, arguing that radical change is not going to materialize from sitting at home. The other camp calls out the absurdity of throwing food at art, stating that it will not shift the needle. Some even claim that Just Stop Oil’s bizarre behaviour is alienating supporters of climate change movements. But we can all agree that the activists got the media attention they were after. However, do we suffer from a lack of attention to climate emergency issues? It seems that people simply do not care. We are already experiencing worsening floods, fires, droughts, and we have a mountain of academic evidence and data linking the deteriorating climate to man-made activities and yet, we are debating the #soupgate. Will it be different this time around, will the Just Stop Oil protests shift the attitudes of the public and the government on climate change?
Just Stop Oil — Cause
What does Just Stop Oil want? The clue is in the name… the group asks that the UK government “immediately halts all future licensing and consents for the exploration, development and production of fossil fuels in the UK.” Their main concern is global warming, which is directly linked to the burning of fossil fuels. Just Stop Oil does not aim to switch off fossil fuels overnight, the aim is to stop financing future oil and gas projects, which are conflicting with the shift to a low-carbon economy. The group’s latest protests are a direct response to the Liz Truss‘ government’s decision to lift the moratorium on shale gas production and issue new oil and gas licenses — that is now being reversed by Rishi Sunak’s new government.
Simply put, Just Stop Oil are not wrong with their demands, as the road to net-zero is not paved with new fossil fuel projects. Indeed, a comprehensive study Navigating Energy Transitions from the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) concluded that there is a “large consensus across all published studies that developing new oil and gas fields is incompatible with the 1.5C target.” The ISSD further argues that $570bn must be used towards the transition to renewables. To our disappointment, the ISSD’s 124 pages study on energy dismisses nuclear as an option in a single paragraph…
Promoting national energy security by boosting domestic production is crucial as energy demand is unlikely to decrease and being overly dependent on foreign energy imports can be dangerous. However, new oil drilling permits will not boost the energy supply for almost a decade, so why not put the investment towards scaling up renewables and making nuclear affordable?
Final thoughts
Just Stop Oil’s controversial tactics are grabbing the news headlines so does the end justify the means?
Emily Davidson threw herself in front of the King’s horse to fight for women’s rights in 1913, Banksy “vandalised” buildings in the name of satirical political activism and Greta Thunberg systematically skipped school during her Friday strikes. The civil disobedience movement in the political-environmental context is nothing new. But can we separate the cause from the means? A tomato soup on a glass-protected painting is a temporary inconvenience but might lead to some positive outcomes in the long run. Had people been triggered by climate change the same way they are triggered by the Just Stop Oil campaign, maybe the protests would not be needed in the first place.
Many of us are part of the environmental movement in some way already, through our work or everyday actions, but could we do more? What are your means of fighting? Tweeting, lobbying, divesting or engaging?
