Just Stop Oil: Campaign group’s most controversial protests as three years of activism comes to an end

As controversial eco-campaigners Just Stop Oil announce they are quitting after three years of protests, stunts and soup throwing, we are taking a look back at the activists’ most controversial protests. The British environmental group has said it will be ‘hanging up the hi vis’ saying their initial demands are now Government policy.

The group was founded in February 2022 and began protesting at oil terminals in April 2022. It aimed to force the government to commit to ending new fossil fuel licensing and production using “civil resistance, nonviolent direct action, traffic obstruction, and vandalism”.

A spokesperson said: “Three years after bursting on the scene in a blaze of orange, at the end of April we will be hanging up the hi vis. Just Stop Oil’s initial demand to end new oil and gas is now government policy, making us one of the most successful civil resistance campaigns in recent history.

“We’ve kept over 4.4 billion barrels of oil in the ground and the courts have ruled new oil and gas licences unlawful. So it is the end of soup on Van Goghs, cornstarch on Stonehenge and slow marching in the streets.”

Over the years, nothing seemed off limits as a target for Just Stop Oil protests, with historic relics, precious works of arts, sporting tournaments and a flower show all receiving the JSO treatment. And, love them or hate them, their antics certainly did get their message to the top of the news agenda.

So, as the group’s campaigners call it a day for orange powders and paint protests, we look back at their most notorious stunts to draw attention to the climate crisis.