‘Thanks to extreme activism, our message is finally being heard’: Meet the young people fighting to save our planet

Suella Braverman, who was Home Secretary at the time, vowed to increase police powers in response. She tweeted: “To the vandals who tried to ruin a great work of art this week, I say this: Your behaviour doesn’t further your cause or influence the debate; Your disruptive behaviour stops decent people from going about their daily lives; and Your guerrilla tactics will not succeed.” 

This time last year, 75% of adults in the UK said they were worried about the impact of climate change, according to the Office of National Statistics. And that was before a shocking IPCC report declaring “code red” for humanity. 

No work of art was harmed. They were wiped clean and made available to admire again shortly afterwards. The conversation about the climate crisis, however, continues. And no wonder: Anxiety about the future of our planet is at an all-time high. This time last year, 75% of adults in the UK said they were worried about the impact of climate change, according to the Office of National Statistics. And that was before a shocking IPCC report declaring “code red” for humanity. 

This worry has not necessarily translated into support for protests like Phoebe and Anna’s. Various Twitter users have called their actions “selfish,” “pathetic,” “naïve,” and “codswallop,” among other things. Janet Street-Porter referred to them as “a couple of twerps”, and people online called for jail time. They’ve been charged with criminal damage, with court dates in December.

Which is what they expected when they set out with their Heinz.   

“Every single act of civil resistance in history was met with controversy and hatred,” Anna tells GLAMOUR. “From the civil rights movement to the suffragettes, the queer rights movement, every single one of them were met with hatred and backlash and anger. But it’s triggered conversations not just about our methods or us as individuals but about why we were there. People aren’t just talking about the soup on the painting; they’re talking about the messages on our shirts and what we, as an organisation, stand for. People are finally beginning to ask themselves, each other and the government the questions that we’ve been asking all along.” 

Questions like, why is the British government pursuing more and more oil when we have eight years’ worth in reserve and renewables are nine times cheaper anyway? Why are big polluters not being heavily taxed when the head of BP has literally said he’s “got more cash than he knows what to do with”? And why are people angrier about soup near art than they are about the climate emergency?  

Data gathered by the Social Science Lab in June suggests that this sort of action does affect people. In a survey on changing attitudes to Just Stop Oil earlier this year, the number of people willing to participate in some form of climate activism increased from 8.7% to 11.3% of the UK population. That’s equivalent to approximately 1.7 million additional people.

 “I feel like I’m seizing back power over my future from the governments and the corporations, which are denying us the right to grow old.”

Whether this latest spate of activism has recruited more people, or put them off, remains to be seen.

“This is the first thing that has given me a bit of hope that, as a 21-year-old, that maybe we can do something so that we have future,” said Anna. “I feel like I’m seizing back power over my future from the governments and the corporations which actually right now they are denying us the right to grow old.”

“I’m a scared little kid trying to fight for my future,” said Phoebe. “I want people to realise that something like this is a proportionate response to our government’s inaction – which is criminal inaction. It’s not a question of science right now; it’s a question of political will.” 

Gen Z are the most worried, and they’ll inherit the effects of whatever decisions are made now. A 2019 Amnesty International survey of 10,000 people aged between 18 and 25 across 22 countries found that 41 per cent consider climate change one of the most important issues facing the world. A YouGov study a year later found that almost half of all 18–24-year-olds were “very concerned” about the climate crisis, compared to just a quarter of those over 65.

They’re desperate enough to hurl tinned non-perishables for attention.