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Sarah Lunnon

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Sarah Lunnon is a British climate activist and former Green Party politician. She was a councillor in Stroud District Council and in Gloucestershire before becoming associated with Extinction Rebellion, Insulate Britain, and Just Stop Oil. She is known as a co-founder of Just Stop Oil.

Career

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Sarah Lunnon first worked as an historic building surveyor.[1]

Politics

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Lunnon joined the Green Party around 1999, while living in Stroud.[1]

She was elected to Gloucestershire County Council in 2009 as a Green councillor for Stroud East.[2] She was elected in 2013 for Stroud Central. As a county councillor, Lunnon objected to the Javelin Park Incinerator project.[3] In 2015, Lunnon called for the county council's pension investment strategy to support renewable energy.[4] She stood down from this role in 2017.[5]

In March 2015, the Stroud Greens announced Lunnon as their candidate for Stroud at the 2015 general election.[6] She stood again for the party in Stroud at the 2017 general election.[7] Lunnon was also the Stroud Town councillor for Valley ward between 2016 and 2020.[8][9]

Climate activism

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Extinction Rebellion

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Lunnon became associated with Extinction Rebellion (XR) in its early days (2019)[10][11][12] and was its political spokesperson for some time.[13] In October 2019, Lunnon appeared on BBC Newsnight as an XR activist in a discussion with climatologist Myles Allen about the campaign's claims and tactics.[14] Also that month, she debated Nigel Farage on LBC.[15] She was quoted by BBC News in coverage of XR demonstrations around Parliament Square in September 2020, saying "the failure to act on [the climate crisis] will have a catastrophic impact on the future of us and the generations to come. We want to make our voices heard. This is the biggest issue facing us".[16]

Just Stop Oil

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Lunnon was a co-founder of Just Stop Oil[17] in 2022.[18]

In February 2024, she wrote in The Guardian that as the Conservative and Labour parties had failed to respond to global warming and reduce fossil fuel use, Just Stop Oil intended to stand or support independents at the 2024 general election.[19][20] Lunnon's article drew criticism as it referred to lobbying MPs "at their offices, in their constituencies, and at their homes" as part of opposing policies such as the Conservative pledge for annual licensing rounds for North Sea oil and gas.[21] Labour/Co-op MP Stella Creasy said that targeting MPs at their homes was "unacceptable".[22]

Lunnon was awaiting trial for slow marching in February 2024.[23] In March 2025, BBC News reported that the group was ending its campaign of civil disobedience following the Labour government's commitment not to issue new oil and gas licences,[24][25] with Lunnon commenting that "a key principle of the civil disobedience movement was that activists would take responsibility for their actions".[26] In April 2025, she was quoted in an examination of the effect of UK protest legislation and policing on climate activism, saying that "the movement is there, nobody is calling it a day, [and] we know, morally, that we have to continue".[27]

Insulate Britain

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Lunnon has also campaigned with Insulate Britain.[28][29][30][31]

Other campaigns

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Lunnon has also been associated with democracy campaigns that emerged from XR, including Burning Pink.[32][33] In 2024, Lunnon was reported to be involved in "Assemble" – a deliberative democracy initiative which advocated for greater use of citizens' assemblies.[34][35] According to Waging Nonviolence, "Assemble" emerged from discussions within the UK climate movement about how to combine climate activism with democratic reform – with Lunnon commenting that "the system of government we have is incapable of addressing the climate crisis, [and] unless we change how we're governed, we cannot win".[29]

In September 2024, Defend Our Juries quoted her as part of its Free Political Prisoners campaign.[36]

Views

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Lunnon and others have argued that the use of injunctions, public nuisance charges and lengthy sentences for climate protesters "undermine" the right to peaceful protest and fair trial protections.[37][38][39] Lunnon said that "the Labour Government needs to free the political prisoners – cancel the Tory North Sea oil consents – and end oil, gas and coal use by 2030. Not to do so is to be complicit in a planned genocide. We have a moral duty to defend those who will be harmed".[40]

Other activities

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In June 2022, Lunnon joined Hilary Cottam in a panel discussion chaired by Damon Silvers as part of the IIPP Climate Change, Labour and Innovation Lecture Series at University College London.[13]

References

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  1. 1 2 Lunnon, Sarah (27 April 2015). "Full Interview: Sarah Lunnon, Green Party candidate for Stroud". Stroud News & Journal (Interview). Interviewed by Wiseman, Jamie.
  2. ↑ Teale, Andrew. "Gloucestershire County Council 2009 election results". Local Elections Archive Project. Retrieved 14 May 2026.
  3. ↑ Mortimer, Hayley (7 May 2013). "Stroud's Sarah Lunnon re-elected as the county's only Green councillor". Stroud News & Journal.
  4. ↑ Titley, Megan (27 November 2015). "Green councillor Sarah Lunnon starts petition to develop a Pension Investment Strategy which invests in renewable energy". Stroud News & Journal.
  5. ↑ "Minutes of County Council meeting" (PDF). Gloucestershire County Council. 22 March 2017. Retrieved 14 May 2026.
  6. ↑ Titley, Megan (18 March 2015). "Greens announce Sarah Lunnon as parliamentary candidate". Stroud News & Journal.
  7. ↑ Bass, Matt (27 May 2017). "Election interview: Greens' Sarah Lunnon says 'we must protect the natural world'". Stroud News & Journal.
  8. ↑ Wiseman, Jamie (16 December 2016). "Green party candidate Sarah Lunnon claims victory in Stroud Town Council by-election". Stroud News & Journal.
  9. ↑ "Green councillor removed from Stroud Town Council after missing too many meetings". Stroud News and Journal. 11 March 2020. Retrieved 19 May 2026.
  10. ↑ Heffernan, Margaret (13 April 2021). "Shell 7 Trial: Extinction Rebellion Activists in Court for Vandalizing Shell Headquarters". Medium. Retrieved 8 August 2026.
  11. ↑ Rebellion, Extinction (16 April 2020). "Tonight, Thursday 6.30pm: April Anniversary Livestream Part 2". Extinction Rebellion UK. Retrieved 8 August 2026.
  12. ↑ Lewis, Aimee (24 November 2019). "Too white, too middle class and lacking in empathy, Extinction Rebellion has a race problem, critics say". CNN. Retrieved 8 August 2026.
  13. 1 2 "Climate Change, Labour and Innovation: 4". UCL Bartlett Faculty of the Built Environment. Retrieved 8 August 2026.
  14. ↑ "BBC Newsnight: Sarah Lunnon". YouTube. Extinction Rebellion UK. 11 October 2019. Retrieved 14 May 2026.
  15. ↑ Weston, Katie (13 October 2019). "'Science is never settled': Farage in fierce debate with Extinction Rebellion organiser". Daily Express.
  16. ↑ "Arrests as Extinction Rebellion protests begin across England". BBC News. 1 September 2020.
  17. ↑ "Sarah Lunnon". The Guardian. 21 February 2024. Retrieved 8 August 2026.
  18. ↑ Gayle, Damien (1 April 2022). "Inside Just Stop Oil, the youth climate group blocking UK refineries". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 August 2026.
  19. ↑ Lunnon, Sarah (21 February 2024). "Forget Labour and the Tories: the 'carbon parties' will not save us. That's why Just Stop Oil wants your votes". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 May 2026.
  20. ↑ Mortimer, Josiah (10 May 2024). "Labour Faces New Challenge From the Left as Just Stop Oil-Linked Movement Throws Weight Behind Independent Candidates". Byline Times. Retrieved 19 May 2026.
  21. ↑ "Conservative 2024 manifesto summary" (PDF). Cavendish Consulting.
  22. ↑ "Not acceptable for protesters to target MPs in their homes, says Stella Creasy". The Guardian. 22 February 2024. Retrieved 14 May 2026.
  23. ↑ "Just Stop Oil: Resistance indicative of 'failing politics'". Sky News. 16 February 2024. Retrieved 14 May 2026.
  24. ↑ "The most controversial Just Stop Oil protests as climate group ceases direct action". The Independent. 27 March 2025. Retrieved 15 May 2026.
  25. ↑ "Government to unleash the North Sea's clean energy future". GOV.UK. Retrieved 15 May 2026.
  26. ↑ Rowlatt, Justin (29 March 2025). "Has Just Stop Oil really stopped throwing soup?". BBC News.
  27. ↑ Rowlatt, Justin (25 April 2025). "Just Stop Oil was policed to extinction, now the movement has gone deeper underground". BBC News.
  28. ↑ "Changemaker conversations: Sarah Lunnon". Homerton College. University of Cambridge. Retrieved 14 May 2026.
  29. 1 2 Ay, Adem (24 October 2025). "Inside the fight for radical democracy in Britain's new left party". Waging Nonviolence. Retrieved 14 May 2026.
  30. ↑ Taylor, Matthew (24 September 2021). "Low-hanging fruit: Insulate Britain's message makes sense, say experts". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 14 May 2026.
  31. ↑ "Impact of the Insulate Britain Campaign". Social Change Lab. Retrieved 15 May 2026.
  32. ↑ "Burning Pink party". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 14 May 2026.
  33. ↑ "Charities 'not doing enough' on eco crisis, paint-throwing activist tells court". Times Series. 26 January 2023. Retrieved 19 May 2026.
  34. ↑ "About Assemble". www.timetoassemble.org. Retrieved 15 May 2026.
  35. ↑ Parry, Max (14 March 2024). "Just Stop Oil's secret revolution plans will bring chaos to UK streets". Daily Express. Retrieved 14 May 2026.
  36. ↑ O’Neill, Sean (13 March 2023). "Protesters must be allowed to explain motives in court". www.thetimes.com. Retrieved 15 May 2026.
  37. ↑ Rowlatt, Justin (21 November 2023). "Just Stop Oil: UN criticises 'severe' jail sentences". BBC News. Retrieved 14 May 2026.
  38. ↑ Laville, Sandra (23 January 2024). "UN expert condemns UK crackdown on environmental protest". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 14 May 2026.
  39. ↑ "United Kingdom: UN expert alarmed by systemic erosion of the right to protest". OHCHR. Retrieved 14 May 2026.
  40. ↑ "Free Political Prisoners campaign launches". Defend Our Juries. 16 September 2024. Retrieved 14 May 2026.
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