13 March 2022 3:30pm
At 3:30pm today, 30 young supporters of Just Stop Oil swarmed onto the red carpet at the BAFTA awards to demand an end to new fossil fuel projects in the UK.
The group, who are all under the age of 30, disrupted the red carpet event at London’s Royal Albert Hall. In a reference to the recent film they wore T-shirts reading “Just look up” and “Just Stop Oil”. [1]
Claudia, 23, said:
“I am here supporting Just Stop Oil because I am absolutely terrified about our future. Last year the UK government’s former chief scientific advisor warned us that what we do within the next 3-4 years will determine the future of humanity. Yet our government, knowing this, knowing that continuing to support the oil industry is a death sentence for us all, remains determined to drag us down this path of suffering and destruction. And the mainstream media doesn’t care.
“So we are asking those with power and influence to use it, to do what is necessary, and use their platform to demand the government just stop oil. We have to act like our lives depend on it, because they do.”
Dillon Parsons, 20, an aspiring filmmaker at the University for the Creative Arts, said,
“I’ve always wanted to be a filmmaker. As a child I used to be so excited to watch the award shows and imagine that one day it would be me on the red carpet. But what kind of future do I have now? We’re going to lose everything to climate collapse.
“I don’t want to disrupt the BAFTAS but feel I have no choice because of the danger we are all in. This is not a protest against the BAFTAs or the film industry, nor is it a publicity stunt. We couldn’t care less who wins what award. This is a cry for help from a generation who has the most to lose.”
The young people taking action today said that this disruption is just the start. Actions will continue to escalate until the government makes a meaningful commitment to stop new fossil fuel.
Supporters of the group have said the film Don’t Look Up, which was snubbed by critics and the press for being “too on the nose”, was a primal scream of warning about the crisis that human civilisation is hurtling towards. [2]
Last month Just Stop Oil supporters delivered a letter to Downing Street asking the Prime Minister to bring an end to investment in new fossil fuel supply projects and warning that the group will take direct action if its demands are not met. A reply received by the group from BEIS indicates that the government has no intention of ending new fossil fuel supply, contrary to the expert advice from the International Energy Agency that such investment is inconsistent with maintaining a safe climate. [3]
ENDS
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Notes to Editors
[1] Don’t Look Up follows Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence as two scientists struggling to raise the alarm over a huge comet on a collision course with Earth in a metaphor for the real-life climate crisis. Adam McKay, the director of Don’t Look Up recently offered to get arrested with Just Stop Oil. https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/news/dont-look-up-director-arrest-protesters-b2031227.html
