Young environmental activists have disrupted the red carpet at the Baftas to call for more attention to the climate crisis and for celebrities to speak out about it.
Just before 4pm on Sunday, a group of about two dozen activists prepared to storm the entrance to the red carpet VIP area of the Royal Albert Hall in London, but were prevented from getting inside by police and security.
Four activists were able to gain access to the red carpet by getting tickets after entering a lottery. They took off their shirts to reveal T-shirts reading “Just Stop Oil”, and chanted: “Just look up, just stop oil,” in a reference to the recent film, Don’t Look Up. The satire is in the running for four awards and the attempt by scientists in the film to warn of impending armageddon due to a comet has been compared to experts’ ignored warnings over the climate crisis.
Other activists were able to blockade the entrance to the red carpet area. VIPs had to enter the event on foot after the activists barred the road leading into the cordoned-off area.
The action comes weeks ahead of a planned Just Stop Oil campaign, which insiders say has recruited hundreds of young activists to blockade oil and gas infrastructure sites in the UK. Activists from Extinction Rebellion and Insulate Britain have said they will support the campaign.
Protesters said they were targeting the Baftas to urge celebrities to use their platforms to speak out about the climate emergency.
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 adviser warned us that what we do within the next three to four 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.”
Ahead of the action, activists met at Queen Catherine’s temple in Kensington Gardens near to the Royal Albert Hall for a briefing, where they discussed how the action would take place and what tactics they would use.
The protesters discussed details such as how to maintain non-violent discipline, whether to “go floppy” when arrested or tackled, and the best ways to apply superglue – “getting your fingertips really close together” to make it more difficult for removal teams to soak solvent between them.
