500 climate activists stage huge "paddle-out" protest on Cornish beach during G7 Summit
They took to their boards with a 10m banner, demanding ocean health is at the top of the agenda
Last updated 12th Jun 2021
Climate change activists have staged a record-breaking paddle-out protest on a Cornish beach during the G7 Summit.
Around 500 demonstrators took to their boards at Gyllyngvase in Falmouth, in an event organised by Surfers Against Sewage.
They were carrying a 10m banner to demand ocean health is at the top of the COP26 climate negotiations in November.
"This is an ocean and climate emergency".
Hugo Tagholm is the Chief Executive of the marine conservation charity, based at St Agnes.
He says world leaders' must acknowlegde ocean health's crucial role in tackling the climate crisis.
"The ocean must be integrated into climate action with bold commitments, now. As it stands, the G7 agenda falls short.
"We urge the G7 leaders to stand up for the ocean and make it a priority, to protect the planet’s life support system".
Hugo Tagholm, Surfers Against Sewage
Covering over 70% of the earth's surface and supplying half its oxygen, the ocean plays a vital role in regulating global temperatures but faces a myriad of threats, including warming, acidification and pollution.
Surfers Against Sewage are calling on G7 leaders to enact three key policy asks:
- Stop Damaging the Ocean: Ban destructive extraction of ocean resources. Unite to regulate ocean pollution.
- Protect, Manage and Restore the Ocean: Expand effective ocean protection, management and restoration of people, biodiversity and climate. Catalyse and coordinate action on ocean, carbon, and climate.
- Lead a Decade of Global Ocean Action: Prioritise ocean nature-based solutions and support ocean science. Close the gaps in ocean governance and finance. Mainstream ocean education.
The paddle-out is among a string of protests and days of action organised during the G7 Summit at Carbis Bay from 11th - 13th June.
It is being attended by world leaders including Boris Johnson, US President Joe Biden and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Hugo added: "The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated the vital importance of science-led action. It has also shown that global challenges require a global response.
"We need the same approach to be taken now as global leaders discuss how to build back better from the crisis.
"We cannot secure a healthy planet without a healthy ocean".
Hugo Tagholm, Surfers Against Sewage
SAS declared an Ocean and Climate Emergency in January 2021 and launched a petition calling on the UK Government to ensure the ocean is at the centre of climate negotiations at the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26), due to be held in Glasgow in November.
To date the petition has attracted over 35,000 signatures.
You can read more and sign the petition here or watch the paddle-out as it happened below...
The government says under UK leadership, 80 countries have signed up to an international target to protect at least 30 percent of the world's ocean by 20