---
title: "Climate activists paint over Darwin's grave at London's Westminster Abbey"
description: "LONDON, Jan 13 (Reuters) - Climate activists from Just Stop Oil painted over the grave of British naturalist Charles Darwin at London's Westminster Abbey on Monday."
type: "NewsArticle"
publisher: "Daily Maverick"
site: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za"
section: "Climate"
author: "Reuters"
author_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/author/reuters/"
canonical_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2025-01-13-climate-activists-paint-over-darwins-grave-at-londons-westminster-abbey/"
published: "2025-01-13T13:01:00"
updated: "2025-01-13T13:01:02"
lang: "en-ZA"
word_count: 199
---

# Climate activists paint over Darwin's grave at London's Westminster Abbey

> LONDON, Jan 13 (Reuters) - Climate activists from Just Stop Oil painted over the grave of British naturalist Charles Darwin at London's Westminster Abbey on Monday.

By Reuters · Published 13 January 2025, 15:01 SAST · Updated 13 January 2025, 15:01 SAST

## Key points
- In a bold act of climate protest, two activists transformed Darwin's grave into a grave reminder that we've crossed the 1.5-degree threshold, proving that even the father of evolution would be horrified by humanity's regression into the sixth mass extinction.
- Two activists vandalized Darwin's grave at Westminster Abbey, writing "1.5 is dead" in protest against rising global temperatures.
- The act highlights concerns over surpassing the critical 1.5°C threshold linked to climate change.
- One activist remarked that Darwin would be "turning in his grave" amid the ongoing sixth mass extinction.
- The protest is part of a series of high-profile actions by Just Stop Oil, aiming to draw attention to environmental issues.

## Content

Two activists entered Westminster Abbey - Britain's site for royal weddings, coronations, burials and a major tourist attraction - on Monday morning and used spray chalk on Darwin's grave, the campaign group said in a statement.

The activists wrote "1.5 is dead" in orange over the surface of the white marble gravestone - a reference to recent news that [global temperatures](https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL4N3O50P3&linkedFromStory=true) in 2024 had exceeded 1.5 Celsius above the pre-industrial era for the first time.

"We have passed the 1.5 degree threshold that was supposed to keep us safe," one of the activists said. "Darwin would be turning in his grave to know we are in the midst of the sixth mass extinction."

Darwin, best known for his theory of evolution by natural selection, died in 1882. He is buried in Westminster Abbey's Scientists' Corner, where Isaac Newton and Stephen Hawking are also buried.

The church did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Just Stop Oil activists have staged a number of high-profile protests in Britain including by disrupting sports and theatre events, painting over the [US embassy building](https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL8N3MD21S&linkedFromStory=true) in London and throwing soup at [Van Gogh paintings](https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AS8N3D707H&linkedFromStory=true).

(Reporting by Sachin Ravikumar; editing by Sarah Young)