Tens, perhaps hundreds, of thousands of people will die in the current heat storms. Any government that refuses to put it’s country on a war footing that sees emissions slashed and an urgent programme of adaptation introduced is criminally negligent”
– Prof Bill McGuire, 17 July 2023
“We are heading towards 3 to 4°C of warming across this century, an absolute climate catastrophe for all species including our own. And all we are doing so far is giving rhetoric and optimism and greenwash.”
– Professor Kevin Anderson, 8 June 2023
“I thought fossil fuel firms could change. I was wrong.”
– Christiana Figueres, 6 July 2023
The facts are clear. New oil and gas licensing in 2023 will kill hundreds of millions of people, adding to the already mounting global death toll from climate breakdown. It will push our climate, oceans and the living world beyond the point of no return, triggering runaway global heating and setting in motion an unstoppable process of global societal collapse. To know these facts and still encourage drilling for UK new oil and gas is reckless and immoral. There can be no greater crime.
Since the declaration of a climate and environmental emergency by the British Parliament, in 2019, it has become obvious that our politicians and corporations have no intention of acting in accordance with the fundamental interests of either our young people or the country as a whole. Whether those in charge realise that they are engaging in genocide, is not the question. For this is how it will be seen by the next generation and all future generations.
Adolf Eichmann, the Nazi, at his trial in Jerusalem, sought to defend himself by saying that he never killed any Jews as he was only in charge of transporting them to the death camps. The judges overruled this obscene defence and he was hanged.
Similarly, when those in charge today go to court in the coming years, they will claim that they only facilitated the continued use of fossil fuels. They never actually killed the starving poor of Sudan and Pakistan. And likewise the judgement will be the same – you knew what you were doing and you did not stop it. Justice will be done.
To this end, from this moment forward, Just Stop Oil, working closely with lawyers, will publicly gather evidence against fossil fuel executives, bankers, ministers and officials and members of the legal and media professions who order, administrate or facilitate the exploitation of new oil and gas resources or who conspire to prosecute those taking action to prevent the greatest act of mass murder in human history.
We say to all these people, consider carefully your responsibilities to yourself, your family and the country. This is not a game. This is not a campaign for one small policy change. It is not just another protest. It is resistance against evil.
Face facts before it is too late.
To those who wish to help gather evidence or discuss the issues arising in a safe online space please email [email protected].
ENDS
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Notes to Editors
[1] Climate change litigation is accelerating:
https://www.urgenda.nl/en/themas/climate-case/global-climate-litigation/
https://www.lse.ac.uk/granthaminstitute/publication/global-trends-in-climate-change-litigation-2023-snapshot/
[2] More than 120 leading lawyers have published a “Declaration of Conscience”, refusing to act for new fossil fuel projects or to prosecute members of campaign groups opposing new fossil fuel projects, such as Extinction Rebellion, Insulate Britain and Just Stop Oil.
https://planb.earth/leading-lawyers-refuse-to-prosecute-just-stop-oil/
[3] Climate protection is a human right (that governments and corporations are failing to uphold) – Volker Turk,United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
https://www.ohchr.org/en/statements-and-speeches/2023/06/climate-protection-human-right