But what forms of climate protest would the public find acceptable?
In October 2022, Just Stop Oil protestors Phoebe Plummer and Anna Holland threw tomato soup over Van Gogh’s Sunflowers painting at the National Gallery in London – a crime for which they were eventually sentenced last month to between 20 months and two years in prison.
Some have suggested that these sentences are too harsh, but a new YouGov survey shows that the public clearly disagree.
Almost three quarters of Britons say either that these jail sentences were “about right” (37%) or “not harsh enough” (36%).
In fact, even among those who believe the government aren’t doing enough to tackle climate change, the majority (58%) still believe the sentence was either appropriate or if anything too soft.
Sentiments are similar when it comes to the Just Stop Oil activists who were sentenced to between four and five years in the summer for their roles in organising a protest that blocked parts of the M25 for several days in 2022. Two thirds of Britons (65%) think these sentences were either about right or should have been longer, as do 48% of those who think the government should be doing more on climate change.
What WOULD be an acceptable form of protest for climate change protestors to take?
While the Sunflowers protest is clearly only for gaining attention, the M25 blockage could be said to be more thematically appropriate, having the potential to reduce carbon emissions from road traffic.
Nevertheless, the public were clearly ok seeing the protestors jailed, which begs the question: what forms of protest do the public think it is acceptable for climate campaigners to take? The answer is not many.
Out of nine forms of protest we tested, only one is considered acceptable by the majority of Britons: holding a demonstration in a town square. Even then, however, only 46% of Britons think this classic form of protest is “completely” acceptable to take, with 35% giving a more tepid “somewhat acceptable” answer, and 15% describing it as unacceptable.
Were the demonstrations instead to be outside the homes of senior politicians – as has happened last year when Greenpeace activists draped black banners over Rishi Sunak’s Yorkshire home – then the number branding this acceptable drops to 43%, including only 17% who say completely acceptable.
Climate change campaigns have faced criticism previously for actions that would seem to contradict their climate change goals – disrupting metro transport, for instance.
But it seems that few Britons think it would be ok for protestors to take even the most thematically appropriate actions relative to their campaign goals.
For example, just 26% think it would be acceptable in principle for climate protestors to disrupt the burning of fossil fuels at a fossil fuel power plant. Likewise, only 23% feel it would be acceptable to disrupt mining operations at a coal mine – this despite the fact that previous YouGov research found that 68% of Britons believed the UK should get less of its power from coal.
And while only 10% think it would be acceptable for climate protestors to disrupt public transport like trains and buses, this figure is no different when it comes to action against less climate friendly forms of transport, for instance by blocking vehicle traffic on motorways (11%) or preventing flights from taking off at airports (11%).
Again, even among those Britons who feel that the government needs to take more urgent action on climate change, there are clear misgivings about these forms of protest.
While most Britons who feel this way think protesting outside the homes of senior politicians is ok (58%), they are divided on disrupting the fossil fuel extraction and production, and overwhelmingly opposed to disrupting transport.
What do you think about the actions of climate change protestors, the fight against climate change in general, and everything else? Have your say, join the YouGov panel, and get paid to share your thoughts. Sign up here.
Photo: Getty
