Just Stop Oil to target Imperial

Just Stop Oil is to focus its campaigns on university lectures and campus facilities throughout October, with Imperial said to be a top target.

“Buildings, classrooms, and ceremonies would all look great,” said one student activist, according to The Sun. Imperial is holding its graduation ceremony at the Royal Albert Hall on 18th October.

The environmental activism group plans to recruit students during freshers’ week, according to emails leaked to the Daily Mail. The messages set out ‘an example of a semester plan’, beginning in the first week of term, with a ‘massive push’ to advertise talks.

The talks will take place in the second week of term. Students will be asked to donate, attend an eight-hour non-violence training session, and ‘engage in civil resistance’. From 23rd to 29th October, the group will stage a ‘mass JSO demo in London’ for students in the capital. The six-week plan will culminate in a ‘D-Day protest’, running from 13th to 19th November.

‘Our headline aim is to mobilise enough students to… generate 500+ student arrests by defying section 12s on slow marches,’ says one email. Section 12 of the Public Order act grants police the power to remove protestors from roads, if they feel such action is necessary to prevent serious public disorder, criminal damage or disruption to the life of the community.

‘We call on all the staff and students at Imperial College London to get involved, join their local group and march with us this November,’ said a student spokesperson for JSO.

To the management of Imperial College London, you have a choice: join your students and staff, resist new oil and gas. Or be complicit in genocide.

The student plan is part of a wider JSO aim to ‘overwhelm the police and/or the judiciary’ over six weeks in October and November. In June, the Metropolitan Police said that over a previous six-week period in London, JSO’s slow marches had cost them over £4.5m .

Just Stop Oil has polarised public opinion with its vandalism and traffic obstruction. It is demanding that the government stop licensing all new oil, gas and coal projects.

On 15th September, Education Secretary Gillian Keegan published a letter to university vice chancellors warning them of JSO’s university protest plans. ‘I strongly encourage you to ensure that students are aware of the consequences that engaging in any criminal activity could have for their futures,’ she wrote. ‘If convicted, students could face fines, community service, or even imprisonment.’ 

Just Stop Oil responded on 18th September, and sent its own letter to vice chancellors, criticising them for partnering with fossil fuel companies. ‘Your universities give the government and carbon corporations the veneer of respectability, and the social licence to carry on their project of mass death,’ it said.

It attached a letter demanding that the government stop issuing new oil and gas licences. ‘If you do not sign and return the attached letter by Friday 22nd September, students will have no choice but to bring a wave of civil disobedience to their campuses.’

JSO strikes again

This is not the first time Just Stop Oil has focused its sights on Imperial. In March 2022, two JSO members spray-painted ‘Imperial funds climate breakdown’ outside the College main entrance, and glued themselves to an adjacent glass walkway barrier.

The College has come under fire for its links to fossil fuel companies; between 2017 and 2021, it accepted £54m in funding from fossil fuel companies. The previous College President, Alice Gast, was heavily criticised by students for her position on the board of directors of Chevron, an American oil and gas company.

Under its Socially Responsible Investment Policy, Imperial says it ‘will continue to invest in fossil fuels companies that demonstrate they are actively moving towards meeting Paris Agreement targets.’

In 2019/20, the College working group which developed the policy discussed divesting from fossil fuel companies altogether. It recognised the merits of such an approach in drawing attention to climate change. However, on balance, it felt that active engagement with companies through investment could allow the College to have a longer-term influence on decarbonisation.

‘Major fossil fuel companies like BP and Shell value their relationships with Imperial, not least because of our world-class research collaborations and the fact that they employ many of our graduates,’ says a statement from the group.

Responding to a request for comment, a College spokesperson reiterated Imperial’s commitment to ‘leveraging the full breadth of our influence across our investments, research, education, sponsorship and other actions to accelerate the transition to net-zero.’ It said that decarbonisation was its top priority when working with energy companies. ‘We have been clear that we will monitor progress, and only continue to work with companies who demonstrate commitment and credible action to achieve these targets.’

The student spokesperson for Just Stop Oil disputed this logic. ‘By taking millions of pounds in research grants from genocidal corporations, such as BP and Shell, Imperial continues to legitimise the death project of new oil and gas. Worse still, it gives the oil and gas industry an illusion of respectability, by encouraging its own students to work for the same corporations that are destroying their chance at a liveable future.’

JSO had a message for Imperial’s leadership: ‘We say to the management of Imperial College London, it’s time for you to stick your head above the parapet and finally honour your duty of care. You have a choice: join your students and staff, resist new oil and gas. Or be complicit in genocide.’