The grave of British naturalist Charles Darwin was defaced by climate activists from the Just Stop Oil group at London’s Westminster Abbey.
Earlier this morning, two activists entered Westminster Abbey and wrote “1.5 is dead” in orange spray chalk across Darwin’s white marble gravestone. The phrase alludes to recent reports about rising global temperatures.
According to those reports, in 2024, for the first time ever, temperatures surpassed ones recorded in the pre-industrial era by 1.5 degrees Celsius. This increase in global temperature was the agreed-upon “safe” limit designated by world leaders in Paris in 2015.
“We have passed the 1.5-degree threshold that was supposed to keep us safe,” one of the Just Stop Oil activists said. “Darwin would be turning in his grave to know we are in the midst of the sixth mass extinction.”
In a statement, Westminster Abbey said that its conservators were “taking immediate action to clean the memorial and do not anticipate that there will be any permanent damage. The police were called to the scene and dealt with the incident. The Abbey remains open for visiting and worshipping.”
The two female protestors, Alyson Lee and Di Bligh, were taken into custody at a police station in central London and arrested on suspicion of causing criminal damage at Westminster Abbey.
Westminster Abbey is a famous site for royal weddings, coronations, and burials in Britain, as well as a major tourist attraction.
Darwin is most famous for his theory of evolution by natural selection. He died in 1882 and is buried in Westminster Abbey’s Scientists’ Corner with the likes of other notables like Isaac Newton and Stephen Hawking.
The activist group Just Stop Oil has previously staged protests in museums, from the National Gallery in London to the Manchester Art Gallery. The group’s actions have been widely influential—and particularly controversial.
