[Depiction of climate activists protesting. Photo credit: Pixaby]

Recently, on January 28th, 2024, climate activists threw soup onto the Mona Lisa at the Louvre in Paris, and such an act of vandalism spiked headlines.

According to the Smithsonian Magazine, once the two climate activists vandalized the Mona Lisa, they were heard saying: “What is more important? Art or the right to have a healthy and sustainable food system?” and “Our agricultural system is sick.”

Moreover, it was found that the pair of activists belong to the A22 movement, which is a coalition of climate activism organizations such as Just Stop Oil.

Arguably one of the world’s most important pieces of art, such an act of defacement has caused an uproar from the rest of society.

Unfortunately, such actions carrying the name of “activism” have not been an isolated event.

This was not the first time climate activists have targeted the Mona Lisa.

In 2022, CBS News reported that a man disguised “as an elderly lady in a wheelchair” smeared cake onto the painting.

He was heard saying: "Think about the Earth. There are people who are destroying the Earth. Think about it ... all artists, think about the Earth — this is why I did this. Think about the planet.”

Additionally, other priceless paintings, such as Monet’s Grainstacks, have also been the target of climate activists.

In 2022, the Smithsonian Magazine reported that two climate activists, wearing bright orange vests, speared mashed potatoes and glued themselves onto the painting at the Barberini Museum in Germany.

These activists were quoted saying: “People are starving. People are freezing. People are dying. We are in a climate catastrophe and all you are afraid of is tomato soup or mashed potatoes on a painting.”“When will you finally start to listen and stop business as usual?”

Though most protests do not have severe consequences or penalties, in December of 2023, The Guardian reported how activist Stephen Gingell was jailed for six months.

Gingell, who is a part of the Just Stop Oil organization, was sentenced to six months in jail after pleading guilty to taking part in a protest.

More often than not, organizations like Just Stop Oil or A22 are derived from a single cause: preventing further climate change.

However, even though their overall message of climate and environmental stewardship is applaudable, their means of promoting their values and messages cause more harm than good.

This is shown through an online poll conducted by the University of Bristol in 2023, where “68% were found to disapprove of the Just Stop Oil group.”

As public perception and reputation are essential for any organization to be taken seriously, this is the first point in which climate activism organizations fall short.

From the emotional standpoint of bystanders, the disruptive actions of these climate activists place unnecessary burdens on their daily lives.

From an environmental perspective, such parades and marches by climate activists may emit more carbon than what they offset, due to idling cars.

For example, the Independent reported in April of 2023 that a Just Stop Oil protest caused traffic for more than 3 hours.

This, paired with the fact that, according to CBS News, a quarter of a gallon of gas is burned every fifteen minutes a car idles, amounts to around 3 gallons of gas burned for every car that was held in the Just Stop Oil’s protest in April 2023.

Though the drastic actions taken by the climate activism organizations have fully captured the attention of society, it is clear that more harm is being done than good.

It is crucial that society finds a cohesive way for tangible change to be done through climate activism so that the crisis of climate change may be addressed in a unified manner.