On October 25, 2024, environmental activists from the group Just Stop Oil targeted a statue of the ancient Greek goddess Demeter at the British Museum as part of a climate protest. The organization announced online that two members entered the museum at 10 a.m., adorning the statue with a reflective vest and placing a speech bubble beside it that read “Just Stop Hunger.”
The marble statue, dating from 350-330 BC, depicts Demeter seated on a throne and was uncovered in ancient Knidos by British archaeologist Sir Charles Thomas Newton. The British Museum, which acquired the piece in 1859, confirmed that the statue was not damaged. A museum representative noted, “The British Museum supports peaceful protests but this incident breached guidelines, risking harm to the collection.”
Just Stop Oil’s statement emphasized concerns raised by climate scientists about the potential collapse of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). The organization warned that such a collapse could lead to devastating impacts on agriculture in northwestern Europe. A spokesperson for the group remarked, “The climate crisis is endangering our food security. We need to end fossil fuel use to prevent famine scenarios often seen as distant issues.”