Supporters of Just Stop Oil are staging ‘go slow’ marches in Bristol, Lancaster and Ipswich today to demand that the government stops all new UK fossil fuel licences and consents. [1]
Over 100 Just Stop Oil supporters have turned out for peaceful marches across the three locations causing long traffic delays and tailbacks through city centres.
In Ipswich 16 Just Stop Oil supporters marched from Christchurch Park this morning towards the city centre accompanied by a police squad car, two motorbikes and a handful of police officers on foot. Lancaster saw over 25 Just Stop Oil supporters setting off to march slowly along the A6. Within the last hour around 70 Just Stop Oil supporters have set off from Queens Square in Bristol to march slowly around the city centre. [2]
Today’s slow marches honour the memory of our comrade, Xavier Gonzalez-Trimmer who sadly died on 20th February 2023. Xavi took action with a sense of service and love. He demanded a future worth living and will be sadly missed. He lives on in our actions. [3]
The slow marches demonstrate that Just Stop Oil supporters will continue to defy government threats to crack down on the tactic. Further such actions are planned across the country and in London in the coming months. [4]
A Just Stop Oil spokesperson said:
“Our government knows that licensing new fossil fuel projects is signing a death warrant for young people, for whole populations living in small island states and the global south. We are facing death and mass migration in the millions and the loss of peoples’ cultures, traditions and history – that’s genocide. In future they will be held to account for their crimes.
“ In the face of the government’s criminal death project and the potential collapse of human civilisation we cannot remain neutral. Neutrality means they win. It means millions of deaths and the loss of all we hold dear. It is time for everyone to pick a side.
“We know where we stand. We are on the side of life, the side of survival. We can be powerful if we come together and resist. Join us on a slow march in London from 24th April.”
The government plans to issue over 100 new North Sea oil and gas licences from April 2023– a move which is facing a legal challenge by campaign groups. The government is also facing a legal challenge over its approval of the UK’s first new coal mine for over 30 years, at Whitehaven in Cumbria. [5]
Campaigners are also threatening to take the government to court over last month’s decision by the planning inspector to grant permission for oil drilling at Balcombe in Sussex. [6]
Climate scientists have warned that the granting of new fossil fuel licences is incompatible with staying within 1.5C of global warming – a temperature increase widely understood to be disastrous for humanity [7].
Speaking ahead of the release on Monday 20th March of another key climate report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the UN Secretary General Antonio Gutteres said last week [8]:
“Our world is at a crossroads, and our planet is in the crosshairs. We are nearing the point of no return, of overshooting the internationally agreed limit of 1.5 degrees Celsius of global warming. We are at the tip of a tipping point.”
Today’s slow marches follow a campaign of disruptive action by Just Stop Oil in the final months of 2022, with daily roadblocks in the centre of London in October, the repeated closure of the M25 in November when Just Stop Oil supporters climbed the overhead gantries, and a series of slow-marches in the capital in December.
Since the Just Stop Oil campaign launched on the 14th February 2022, there have been over 2,000 arrests and 138 people have spent time in prison, many without trial. There are currently two Just Stop Oil supporters and two Insulate Britain supporters in prison whilst awaiting trial or serving sentences for actions taken with the campaigns.
Just Stop Oil is hosting twice weekly welcome talks online or in person for members of the public on Tuesdays at 7pm and Sundays at 5pm. These talks take an unflinching look at the state we’re in, what we’re doing about it and how we’re going to win. Visit our website to sign up for a welcome talk and prepare to take action with Just Stop Oil.[9]
ENDS
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Notes to Editors
[1] Just Stop Oil is a coalition of groups working together to demand that the government immediately halt all future licensing and consents for the exploration, development and production of fossil fuels in the UK. Just Stop Oil is a member of the A22 Network of civil resistance projects. Climate Emergency Fund is Just Stop Oil’s primary funder for recruitment, training, and capacity building.
[2] Just Stop Oil slow marches:
Ipswich: https://www.ipswichstar.co.uk/news/23395883.delays-ipswich-town-centre-just-stop-oil-protest/
Bristol: https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/just-stop-oil-protest-planned-8261691
[3] https://juststopoil.org/2023/02/23/just-stop-oil-statement-on-the-death-of-xavier-gonzalez-trimmer/
[4] Rishi Sunak plans to crack down on ‘go slow’ marches: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/jan/09/rishi-sunak-plans-crack-down-go-slow-protests-just-stop-oil
[5] Government faces legal challenges over its plans to award 100 new UK oil and gas licences and its approval of a new coal mine: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/dec/12/uk-ministers-face-legal-challenge-over-north-sea-oil-and-gas-licences
[6] New fossil fuels incompatible with 1.5C warming: https://www.carbonbrief.org/new-fossil-fuels-incompatible-with-1-5c-goal-comprehensive-analysis-finds/.
[7] Residents in the West Sussex village of Balcombe are seeking to set a legal precedent against onshore oil and gas operations across southern England. https://drillordrop.com/2023/03/11/nowhere-is-safe-if-balcombe-oil-exploration-goes-ahead/
[8] Sticking to ‘cold, hard’ climate facts can end global warming: Guterres:
https://news.un.org/en/story/2023/03/1134537
[9] Find out how to get involved with Just Stop Oil here: https://juststopoil.org/get-involved/
Sign up to join Just Stop Oil supporters on a slow march this Spring: http://bit.ly/JSOSM
