FEATURING TASNEEM ESSOP – The Group of 7, or G7 summit in Cornwall, England wrapped up on Sunday with Western leaders making effervescent pronouncements about global cooperation, sending warning signals to Russia and China, claiming a crackdown on global tax havens, and patting themselves on the back for taking bold action on climate change. 

But climate justice leaders from around the world roundly denounced the G7 for utterly failing in their responsibility to the world even as carbon emissions continue to dangerously rise and time has all but run out. In the run up to the UN Climate meeting in Scotland this November, dubbed COP 26, democratically elected Western leaders seem to have let their citizens down once more.

Tasneem Essop, Executive Director of the Climate Action Network.