Top climate stories of this week: Just Stop Oil activs criticised for protests as oil companies make record profits

The past week has been filled with headlines from the UK, not just of political turmoil but also of paintings being defaced and luxury establishments being vandalised a climate activ group calling for a halt to all new oil and gas consents and licences. The high-profile nature of the protests has triggered debates on climate change, activism and the place for civil disobedience in modern society.

As we write, the Just Stop Oil activ group has shared a video of activs spray painting a luxury watch showroom in London. “At 8.30 am today, two Just Stop Oil supporters sprayed orange paint from a fire extinguisher over the premises of Rolex in Knightsbridge,” said the group on Twitter. In an accompanying video, a man and a woman are seen vandalising the glass front of the showroom.

🚨 BREAKING: ROLEX STORE SPRAY-PAINTED ORANGE 🚨
⌚️ At 8:30am today, two Just Stop Oil supporters sprayed orange paint from a fire extinguisher over the premises of @ROLEX in Knightsbridge, demanding that the government halts all new oil and gas consents and licences. #FreeLouis pic.twitter.com/iBoNlQwTmc — Just Stop Oil ⚖️💀🛢 (@JustStop_Oil) October 28, 2022
The activ group shot into public view on October 14 when two activs threw tomato soup at Vincent van Gogh’s Sunflowers in the National Gallery in London. Since then, the movement has moved beyond London.
On Monday, German police arrested two people for throwing mashed potatoes at a Claude Monet painting in Germany’s Barberini Museum museum. A few days later, on Thursday, three people were arrested in the Netherlands for vandalising a painting. A video on social media showed two men standing close to art Johannes Vermeer’s golden age masterpiece Girl with a Pearl Earring, housed in Mauritshuis museum in The Hague. One man is seen trying to superglue his bald head to the painting while another empties a can of tomato soup over the first man’s head.

BREEK – Meisje met de parel van Johannes Vermeer besmeurd in #Mauritshuis. pic.twitter.com/XzAZTOoBv9
— Steven Bakker (@Kolpen) October 27, 2022
Other top stories from this week are as follows: 
Oil companies report record profits
Top energy companies Exxon Mobil Corp and Chevron Corp have posted huge quarterly profits, a development that has brought up calls for higher taxation of the sector. Besides Exxon Mobil Corp and Chevron Corp, TotalEnergies and Shell also posted quarterly earnings of nearly $10 billion each this week.
Globally, oil companies have benefitted massively from the Russia-Ukraine war and the subsequent ban on Russian oil, which caused gas prices to hit an all-time high. A Reuters report said that four of the five largest global oil companies have now reported results, combining nearly $50 billion in net income.

U.S. President Joe Biden condemns the U.S. oil industry, and Exxon Mobil in particular, of capitalizing on a supply shortage to fatten profits as gas prices rise for Americans across the country https://t.co/kgdyOFN2fU pic.twitter.com/YksaYtzURH
— Reuters (@Reuters) June 16, 2022
The profits have been criticised world leaders, including US President Joe Biden, who said earlier this year that Exxon was making “more money than God”. He also accused Shell of misusing its profits.
Grim news on COP26 pledges
Three key UN agency reports released in the past two days found that there is “no credible pathway to 1.5C in place” and the current measures to cut carbon emissions are “woefully inadequate,” said a report in The Guardian. The UN climate agency, meteorological agency and the International Energy Agency all released reports that pointed at a serious lack of motivation from many countries to adhere to the COP26 agreements.
Poland to get its first nuclear power plant
In keeping with its pledge to reduce carbon emissions, Poland has picked the proposal of a US firm to build its first nuclear power plant. Prime Miner Mateusz Morawiecki said on Twitter that the decision was taken after talks with US Vice-President Kamala Harris and Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm.

📣BIG NEWS: Poland’s PM Mateusz Morawiecki just announced Poland will select the U.S. government & Westinghouse for the first part of their $40B nuclear project, creating or sustaining 100,000+ jobs for American workers. Thank you for your hard work with @ENERGY, @USAmbPoland! 1/ pic.twitter.com/uuovszCuGy
— Secretary Jennifer Granholm (@SecGranholm) October 28, 2022
The move indicates a growing partnership between Poland and the US at a time when neighbouring Ukraine and Russia are engaged in a long-term war, which has brought forth questions on the dependence of European countries on Russia for their energy needs.
Floods, droughts and more
Swirling through the Philippines, Tropical Storm Nalgae triggered flash floods and landslides, resulting in the death of 72 people, as per agency reports. Photos and videos on social media showed residents of low-lying villages climbing on top of their roofs as the unusually heavy rains flooded several towns in Maguindanao and outlying provinces. Police and army troops were deployed to rescue the affected.
On the other hand, the Mississippi River that flows through midwestern America continued to be drought-stricken after experiencing below-average rainfall for the past two months, reported The Associated Press. The falling water levels have posed a new challenge to the movement of ships and barges that transport newly-harvested food grains like soybeans and corn for export.