JSO Activists Spray Paint Charles Darwin’s Grave

Two women have been arrested after climate protesters spray-painted Charles Darwin’s grave inside Westminster Abbey.

Climate protest group Just Stop Oil (JSO) said two activists used chalk paint on the grave of the famous naturalist, best known for his theories on evolution.

The Met Police were called after the incident at 09:30 GMT on Monday and said two women had been arrested on suspicion of causing criminal damage and remained in custody.

Westminster Abbey said it was taking “immediate action” to clean the memorial.

Alyson Lee, 66, a retired teaching assistant from Derby, and Di Bligh, 77, a former chief executive of Reading Council, from Rode, were involved in the action, JSO said.

A Westminster Abbey spokesperson said: “The Abbey’s curators are taking immediate action to clean the memorial and do not anticipate any permanent damage.”

They added that it remained open for visits and worship.

Ms Lee told the PA news agency: “We are trying to get the Government to act on climate change. They are not doing enough.”

The other campaigner, Ms Bligh, said: “We did this because there really is no hope for the world.

“We did it at Darwin’s grave specifically because he would return there because of the sixth mass extinction that’s happening now.”

Ms Lee added: “I believe he would approve because he was a good scientist and he would follow the science, and he would be as angry as we are at the government for ignoring the science.”

The EU Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) confirmed Friday that last year was the hottest on record globally and the first calendar year in which the average temperature exceeded 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.

Continuing efforts to prevent global warming of more than 1.5°C above pre-industrial temperatures is one of the key commitments of the Global Paris Treaty that countries agreed to in 2015, with the aim of avoiding impacts the most dangerous of climate change.

Scientists have said human-caused climate change is the main cause of the record temperatures, while other factors such as the “El Nino” weather phenomenon in the Pacific Ocean, which is causing global temperatures to rise, have also had an effect.

Analysis by the Met Office, the University of East Anglia and the National Center for Atmospheric Science also found 2024 was the hottest on record and “likely” the first year to exceed 1.5C.