Environmental campaigners stage protest in Sheffield to resist ‘G7 lies’ and ‘false promises’ by world leaders

Campaigners from the Sheffield Climate Campaign Umbrella Group held a rally outside the Town Hall in Sheffield on Saturday afternoon to protest against world leaders who have promised environmental change but have not delivered.

World leaders from the US, the UK, Japan, Canada, Germany, France, Italy and the EU have met in Cornwall this week to discuss a number of global issues, one of which is environmental change.

This year’s focus was Covid recovery and climate change after leaders of the G7 countries committed to holding temperature rises to no more than 1.5C above pre-industrial levels, the lower limit set out in the 2015 Paris agreement.

Sheffield Climate Campaign Umbrella Group said: “Our planet is on fire. While world leaders will be dining on the most expensive wine costing £850 a bottle, the climate and ecological crisis rages on. Yet they won't even mention climate justice. Countries in the Global South are already paying the highest price in the climate crisis despite being the least responsible for causing it. And these countries, facing climate devastation, won't even get a seat at the G7 table.

“Decisions taken at G7 will set the agenda for COP26, the crucial climate summit in November. The agenda is “leading Covid recovery, promoting prosperity and tackling climate change”. Despite these warm words, there is no sign the G7 will do anything to redress the global imbalance of money and power that underlies the interlinked crises of climate, Covid, poverty and war.

“We are taking to the streets on Saturday, 12th June - bringing all together to highlight the need for us all to resist the G7 lies and false promises - to campaign for a world where we put people and planet before profit, where justice means justice on a global scale, where wealth is shared equally and not pocketed by the 1%.”

The protest was attended by several groups including, Extinction Rebellion, trade unions, youth strikers, anti/racism groups, transport campaigners, green new deals campaigners and others.

Campaigners held banners and leafletting and also invited people to speak into a microphone to voice their opinion.

XR Sheffield said: “Our speeches focused on giving voice to those in Global Majority countries by reading out their letters to the G7.

“Some of us also stayed on for the Palestine solidarity demo afterwards.

“We will be joining and planning more actions like this in the run-up to COP26, so stay tuned and get in touch if you want to get involved.”

The UK will host the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow between November 1 and 12, 2021, to accelerate action towards the goals of the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.