Just Stop Oil’s campaign since April 2022 has stopped 4.4 billion barrels of North Sea oil and gas from being extracted and burned. Per pound spent, that makes Just Stop Oil 3,780 times more effective than the ‘Gold Standard’ of Carbon Offsetting. [1] [2]
Figures from the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA)‘s most recent report on the fossil fuel reserves in the North Sea have been used to show the impact of Just Stop Oil’s successful campaign to halt new oil and gas licences in the UK. This is equivalent to 1.8 billion tonnes of CO2 if burnt – more than 4 years of the UK’s total emissions. [3]
A statistical summary of fossil fuels and emissions abated by Just Stop Oil over two years:
4.4 billion barrels
1.8 billion tonnes of CO2
1.4 million barrels per arrest
24 million barrels of oil per imprisonment
In the course of this campaign more than 3,000 people have been arrested, more than 1000 sent to trial, and more than 100 have been sent to prison. Currently there are 19 Just Stop Oil supporters held in UK prisons.
A Just Stop Oil spokesperson said today:
“Supporting Just Stop Oil is the most effective way that ordinary people can resist a harmful state. In a broken system, this is democracy. Anything less than nonviolent civil resistance is compliance with business as usual, which is a death sentence for millions.”
In February 2022, Just Stop Oil started its headline-grabbing campaign to demand an end to new fossil fuel licenses. In the summer of 2023, Labour leader Keir Starmer bowed to increasing pressure from civil society and scientists, and announced that if Labour were in power, they would concede to our demand of no new oil and gas. Just Stop Oil supporter Fiona questioned Keir Starmer in October 2022 on LBC Radio, where he stated: “No new sites – no new fields to be opened”. Ed Milliband reiterated this at the Hay Festival on the 25th May 2024. In July 2024, Labour won the UK General Election, making this official policy. [4] [5]
Sarah Lunnon, a former Green county councillor and Just Stop Oil spokesperson said:
“We don’t have the endless cash, media control, or aristocratic titles that the oil companies and banks use to control policy. Yet our campaign has done the most, with the least, to strike a blow against climate genocide. Each Just Stop Oil arrest equates to 1.3 million barrels of oil not drilled and burned”.
A blog post from Just Stop Oil (readable here) goes into detail:
“Oil and gas extraction in the North Sea is already declining, but there are at least 15 billion barrels of hydrocarbons remaining— though not all of it is economically viable to drill according to the NSTA. Extractable deposits are split into Reserves (already licensed and developed), Contingent Resources (known deposits not yet developed) Prospective Resources (estimated deposits yet to be discovered). Contingent and Prospective Resources are estimates, with a range of figures based on probability. We are using the mean.
In total, an estimated 6.4 billion barrels of oil, beyond tapped reserves, could be developed in the North Sea. Of this, the majority is yet to be licensed. 4.4 billion barrels of oil, equivalent to 1.8 billion tonnes of CO2 if burnt, more than 4 years of UK total emissions.”
Just Stop Oil will be stepping into action again in the new year, demanding that all extraction and burning of Fossil Fuels is halted in the UK by 2030. To join a talk or sign up for action, register at juststopoil.org.
ENDS
Press contact: 07762 987334
Press email: juststopoilpress@protonmail.com
High quality images & video here: https://juststopoil.org/press-media
Website: https://juststopoil.org/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JustStopOil/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/just.stopoil/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JustStop_Oil
Youtube: https://juststopoil.org/youtube
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@juststopoil
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.
Just Stop Oil ‘Blue Lights’ policy: our policy is, and has always been, to move out of the way for emergency vehicles with siren sounding and ‘blue lights’ on.
[2] https://juststopoil.org/2024/12/16/4-4-billion-barrels-stopped/
[3] https://www.nstauthority.co.uk/media/vtjkyqnf/uk-reserves-and-resources-report-as-at-end-2023.pdf
[4] https://juststopoil.org/2024/07/10/paint-the-town-orange-just-stop-oil-wins-first-demand/
