Protest at the grave of Charles Darwin (1809-1882) [Jamie Lowe]

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TWO climate protesters have been charged after the grave of Charles Darwin was spray-painted inside Westminster Abbey.

Climate protest group Just Stop Oil (JSO) said two activists entered the abbey and used chalk spray paint to write “1.5 is dead” on the grave of the famous naturalist best known for his theories on evolution.

This follows the news that the world had exceeded the 1.5°C warming limit agreed by world leaders in the Paris Agreement at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP21) in December 2015.

Police were called to an incident on Monday at around 10am and said two women were arrested and will appear in court charged with criminal damage.

The two women, Alyson Lee, 66, from Derby, and Diane Bligh, 77, from Frome, have been bailed and are due to appear in court on February 11 and 12.

Westminster Abbey said they were taking “immediate action” to clean the memorial.

Ms Lee, a retired teaching assistant, 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 three degrees of warming. 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.

“Despite lots of fine words from international leaders, emissions are still rising. Without real action, words are useless; you cannot negotiate with the laws of physics.

“We need mass civil disobedience now, join us on the streets and help us reclaim parliament this April.”

Ms Bligh, a former chief executive of Reading Council said: “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.’”

The European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) confirmed on Friday January 10 that last year was the warmest on record globally and the first year that the average temperature exceeded 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.

Efforts to prevent world warming more than 1.5°C above pre-industrial temperatures was one of the key commitments in the Paris Agreement 2015 where 194 countries agreed to cut greenhouse gas emissions which cause global warming.

A Metropolitan Police Service spokesperson said: “Two women will appear in court charged with criminal damage following an incident in Westminster Abbey on Monday, 13 January.

“Alyson Lee, 66, of Derby and Diane Bligh, 77, of Frome, have been bailed to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court charged with criminal damage. Lee will appear on 11 February and Bligh on 12 February.

“The women were arrested after a substance, believed to be a powdered paint, was sprayed on an area inside Westminster Abbey.”