G7: Climate protesters target Cornish summit

About 500 protesters joined the March on the first day of the G7 summit

Hundreds of climate campaigners have staged a protest march targeting the G7 summit.

The activists paraded from St Ives Leisure Centre to the middle of the Cornish town, escorted by police.

They called for immediate action from the G7 world leaders to "address the climate and ecological emergency".

Protests were also held in Falmouth, with climate change campaigners gathered on the beach, playing music and listening to speeches.

The G7 leaders are expected to focus talks on climate change and global coronavirus vaccinations during the three-day event.

Deb from St Just holding a sign with a distinctly Cornish message

At least 500 people joined the parade in St Ives, playing drums and chanting "act now" and "sound the alarm".

Organisers said the protests were in response to the summit nations' "failure to respect the global climate commitments they made in Paris in 2015" and "to urge the leaders meeting at Carbis Bay in Cornwall to act immediately to address the climate and ecological emergency".

Ocean Rebellion activists dressed in blue for the march

Olympic sailor Laura Baldwin joined the protests as a member of Ocean Rebellion - Extinction Rebellion's sea-focused campaign group.

She said: "I've absorbed and understood the dire warnings of the world-leading scientists, academics and David Attenborough.

"As a result I'm terrified for the future of my child and all our children."

Olympic sailor Laura Baldwin joined the protest to highlight climate change's effect on oceans

Ms Baldwin said she was more stressed about the state of the planet than any competition as an Olympian.

She said: "I'm part of Ocean Rebellion because I'm an Olympic sailor and the ocean is where my heart is. I love the water and respect it."

Penny Kent demanded action from G7 leaders "immediately"

Penny Kent, who has travelled from Stroud to take part in the protest, said she was worried for her grandchildren's future.

She said she wanted action from the G7 leaders "immediately".

Inflatable Boris Johnson and Joe Biden were put on rafts in the sea by protesters

Nat Squire, 24, an osteopath graduate who lives in Cornwall, argued the government was not acting ambitiously enough and engaging in "greenwashing".

"They say they're going to do something but they don't have any intention."

A graveyard was mocked up in Falmouth to highlight the dangers of climate change

Falmouth protesters gathered on the beach

Protests were also held in Falmouth, with one family mocking up a graveyard in their front garden.

Other climate change protesters gathered on the beach, playing music and listening to speeches.

On Thursday, seven people were arrested with paint, smoke grenades and loud hailers in a car near the summit site in Carbis Bay.