Just Stop Oil protests: Who are the climate activists and what do they want?

Climate activists from Just Stop Oil have made national headlines with a number of high-profile demos in recent weeks.

Last Friday, two members of the group vandalised a Van Gogh painting at London's National Gallery by throwing soup at the artwork.

On Friday, the two protesters threw cans of tomato soup over Van Gogh’s famous Sunflowers painting, then glued themselves to the wall just next to the iconic image, before shouting: “What is worth more, art or life?”

Over the weekend the group also organised a road block in Shoreditch High Street, blocked off Park Lane in London as they spray-painted an Aston Martin showroom, and on Monday morning scaled the Queen Elizabeth II bridge at the Dartford Crossing connecting Essex and Kent, leading to lengthy closures of the M25 motorway and delays of more than two hours for motorists.

It is thought up to 400 protesters have so far been arrested for action in the name of Just Stop Oil. But what are their ultimate aims?

Who are Just Stop Oil and what do they want?

The group says its mission is to "ensure that the government commits to ending all new licenses and consents for the exploration, development and production of fossil fuels in the UK".

In September, the UK government formally lifted a ban on drilling for shale gas - fracking - in a bid to boost energy supplies, to tackle the mounting cost of living crisis, despite admitting that there had been no progress in assessing scientific risk and a need to “gather better data” on safety.

And earlier this month, it opened a new round of licensing for oil and gas exploration in the North Sea, off England's east coast.

Just Stop Oil is a coalition of groups working together in reaction to the moves, to demand that the government immediately halt all future licensing and consents for the exploration, development and production of fossil fuels in the UK.

As two of its members scaled the QEII bridge, the group said in a statement that they had done so “to demand that the Government halts all new oil and gas licences and consents”.

It said this was "the very first step to ensuring our survival".

A spokeswoman for Just Stop Oil told Yahoo News UK: "Governments have been told that to ensure a livable future and avoid catastrophic irreversible breakdown there can be no new oil and gas by the United Nations, the International Energy Agency and the world’s scientists, but Prime Minister Truss has already announced she intends to allow over 100 new oil and gas projects and is lifting the moratorium on fracking.

"Her government has responded to the cost of living crisis with tax cuts for the rich leaving millions of ordinary people suffering."

The group defended its actions by claiming "the social contract is broken".

She said: "If our government is harmful we no longer have a duty to obey its laws. The social contract is broken.

"We are ordinary people who have run out of options and now is the time for us all to resist."

The protest movement says it practices nonviolent civil resistance in the effort to get the government to take action.

The spokeswoman added: "We have a clear, stark choice at this dark moment in history: do nothing and let climate breakdown tip the world into chaos and untold suffering where violence, intolerance, famine and poverty are all we leave to our children.

"Or use our bodies, our fierce love and our creativity to stop the loss of all we hold dear."

Who funds Just Stop Oil?

Just Stop Oil is a member of the A22 Network of civil resistance projects. The Climate Emergency Fund is its primary funder for recruitment, training, and capacity building.

Most of the money for its operations comes from the CEF, which is based in Los Angeles, and began with a foundational grant of $500,000 from Getty Oil heiress Aileen Getty.

Filmmaker Adam McKay made a $4 million contribution and joined its board of directors last month.

Since the soup incident on Friday, some critics have pointed out that Just Stop Oil accepts donations in cryptocurrency, which has a reputation for having a devastating impact on the environment.

What else do Just Have Oil have planned?

The group has called supporters to join them throughout October on protests across the country. Each day in October will see members meeting at Downing Street to 'occupy Westminster' and many other demonstrations have been planned, including Monday's motorway-stopping ascension.

CEF states on its website that as the lead funder of the A22 Network it condones the "October uprising".

And the JSO website offers people the opportunity to sign up and join local protests.

Friday's attack on art was not the first time the group has targeted Van Gogh. In June two activists glued themselves to a Van Gogh painting at the Courtauld Gallery at Somerset House in London.

Louis McKechnie and Emily Brocklebank explained their motives to onlookers, saying that Provence, the landscape painted by the artist, was under threat of drought after unprecedented dry and hot weather as a result of global warming.