Just Stop Oil Wins its Core Demand with UK Ban of New Oil and Gas Leases
Just Stop Oil UK launched in April 2022 with a simple demand: No new oil and gas licenses in the North Sea. Since then, they have become one of the most prominent climate protest movements in history. Their consistent disruptive protests, including blockading oil terminals, shutting down major roads, and cultural disruptions such as throwing soup on (covered) paintings and interrupting sports events, have pushed the climate crisis to the top of the political conversation in the UK and created unprecedented media breakthroughs. JSO UK’s protests have generated at least 250,000 press hits since their launch.
When Just Stop Oil UK launched, the Tories were in power and were granting new oil and gas licenses at a blistering pace, with Rishi Sunak pledging to “max out” exploitation of reserves. But in Spring 2023, Just Stop Oil received huge news: the Labour Party confirmed its pledge to halt all new oil and gas licenses if it won power.
In July 2024, the Labour Party reclaimed control of the UK government for the first time in 19 years in a landslide victory. The Labour Party has since confirmed its commitment not to issue new licenses to explore new oil and gas fields, making the UK the first major fossil fuel-producing nation in the Global North nation to halt its oil and gas expansion, a massive win for JSO UK and for the climate movement as a whole. The UK government has taken other steps toward winding down fossil fuel production as well. In August 2024, the UK government announced it would not intervene in legal proceedings seeking to halt the two largest North Sea fossil fuel projects, Rosebank and Jackdaw. The Labour Party has also increased the “Windfall Tax” on North Sea oil producers. Most reporting covering North Sea oil and gas development treats Labour’s ban as a de facto policy.
A 2023 analysis from the North Sea Transition Authority suggested that there may be over 16 billion barrels of oil remaining in the North Sea, with 2 billion already discovered. Assuming that roughly 4 billion barrels would be economically viable to extract and burn under a business-as-usual scenario, and given that each barrel of oil burned releases 0.43 metric tons of CO2e, a cessation of new oil and gas licensing could result in 1,720,000,000 metric tons of carbon remaining untapped and unburned, equivalent to over 5 years of the UK’s annual country-wide emissions.
Just Stop Oil spent approximately £5 million, or $6.3 million, between its launch in April 2022 and the Labour victory in July 2024. Assuming they deserve 10% credit for Labour’s decision to uphold their pledge to halt new oil and gas leases, each dollar spent on Just Stop Oil resulted in an astronomical 27.3 metric tons of CO2e staying underground. To put that 27.3 tons per dollar number in perspective, the top-rated climate charity identified by Founders Pledge in terms of emissions reductions per dollar, Clean Air Task Force, yielded 0.1-1 ton of carbon emissions reductions per dollar spent in 2018.
Despite an almost unceasing stream of criticism directed toward Just Stop Oil in the media and online, their campaign has proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that disruptive protests can lead to transformational victories, even when a group and its tactics are deeply unpopular.
Of course, the fight is far from over - we now need the UK to initiate a fast phase out of existing fossil fuel production, as well as help support and finance greater international cooperation on managing the transition globally, including by endorsing a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty. But JSO UK has shown that disruptive nonviolent protest is an incredibly effective way to pressure the UK to continue to accelerate its transition off of fossil fuels. Activists around the world should take heart in the continued proof of the efficacy of direct action!