Two Just Stop Oil activists have defaced Charles Darwin’s grave with spray paint inside Westminster Abbey.

The protesters entered the Abbey at 10am on Monday, spray painting “1.5 Is Dead” on the biologist’s grave.

This came after news on Friday revealed that the world exceeded the “safe” 1.5C warming limit agreed by world leaders in Paris in 2015.

The supporters were heard saying: “2024 was the hottest year on record. We have passed the 1.5 degree threshold that was supposed to keep us safe. Millions are being displaced, California is on fire and we have lost three quarters of all wildlife since the 1970’s.”

The supporters were heard saying: “2024 was the hottest year on record"

They claimed Darwin would be turning in his grave, knowing the world was in the “midst of the sixth mass extinction,” adding “the government’s plans will take us to over 3 degrees of warming. This will destroy everything we love. World leaders must stop burning oil, gas and coal by 2030.”

One of the protesters was 66-year-old Alyson Lee, a retired teaching assistant from Derby who said: “Ten years on from the Paris Agreement, we have already exceeded the so-called safe temperature rise of 1.5 degrees, and are heading for over 3 degrees of warming.”

She added:” This rapidly accelerating crisis means huge parts of the world will become unable to support life, resulting in millions of refugees, social collapse and extinction for countless species.”

She hit out at world leaders, saying their words were useless unless real action was taken.

Urging people to join in the fight, she said: “We need mass civil disobedience now, join us on the streets and help us reclaim parliament this April.”

The other person taking action was Di Bligh, 77, a former CEO of Reading Council. Bligh quoted Darwin, saying:

“Darwin once said- ‘It is not the strongest of the species, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change, that lives within the means available and works cooperatively against common threats.”

She added that last year was the hottest since the modern evolution of humans, imploring people to work together to “reign in the corporations and billionaires driving us beyond our means”.

“Humanity will not be able to adapt to what is coming. We are on course to lose everything, and politicians are doing nowhere near enough to prevent it. How many will we have to bury as a result of climate breakdown and who will be left to mourn them?”

Just Stop Oil targeted multiple private jets at London Stansted Airport with orange paintJust Stop Oil