Climate activists have defaced the grave of Charles Darwin in Westminster Abbey. On 13 Jan 2025 at approximately 9:15 am two protestors affiliated with the Just Stop Oil campaign sprayed “1.5 is Dead” in orange paint on the memorial stone in the north aisle of the Abbey’s nave.
Alyson Lee, (66) and Di Bligh, (77) released a statement after their vandalism of the grave writing: “Millions are being displaced, California is on fire and we have lost three quarters of all wildlife since the 1970’s,” noting “Darwin would be turning in his grave to know we are in the midst of the sixth mass extinction.”
“Darwin once said, ‘It is not the strongest of the species, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change, that lives within the means available and works cooperatively against common threats,” Bligh said.
The message “1.5 is dead” is believed to refer to the 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming that had been declared “safe” by world leaders who signed the Paris Agreement in 2015. That mark was passed last year, the BBC reported.
Last year was the hottest since modern humans evolved,” Bligh alleged. “If we do not work together to reign in the corporations and billionaires driving us beyond our means, humanity will not be able to adapt to what is coming.”
A spokesman for the abbey noted the conservators were taking “immediate action to clean the memorial and do not anticipate that there will be any permanent damage.” Police are understood to have arrested the two vandals.
