ShelterBox statement on G7 climate commitments

ShelterBox responds to the underwhelming announcements on climate change from the G7 summit

13 June 2021

Press release - 13 June 2021

Disaster relief charity ShelterBox, based in Truro, Cornwall, has responded to the underwhelming announcements on climate change from the G7 summit this afternoon.

ShelterBox Chief Executive Sanj Srikanthan said this afternoon:

“The G7 Summit may be ending today, but our work is just beginning. With the focus firmly on emissions targets with horizons decades away, we have rapidly lost sight of the shore – the millions of people suffering the effects of climate change right now.

“In the three days of the summit, almost 70,000 homes could have been wiped out by climate-related extreme weather. On our current trajectory, that number will only increase.

“It’s disappointing that there were no new commitments to tackling climate change and its impact on vulnerable communities. We need to go to COP 26 with a renewed call to support families with emergency shelter after disaster, as well as longer-term projects to build more sustainable, durable homes and livelihoods that can weather the coming storm.

“As long as the climate crisis continues to wipe out homes through drought, flooding, wildfires and extreme storms, ShelterBox will continue to support families who are on the front line of the destruction.”

ShelterBox has spent the week running up to the summit drawing attention to the 167 million homes that could be lost to climate-related disasters by 2040, through it’s ‘human habitat loss’ campaign. Full press release here.

For more information or interviews, contact the ShelterBox Media Team.

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