The 2021 G7 Summit in Cornwall

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Our regular reader(s) will no doubt recall the good old days when several times each month an opportunity would present itself to debunk some “skeptical” nonsense from one or more of the usual suspects?

That all changed when Donald Trump was elected President of the United States. He was of course much more amenable to lobbying from fossil fuel interests than Barack Obama, and everything went (comparatively!) quiet.

Now that The Don has sailed off into the proverbial sunset and Joe Biden is top dog all that has changed. A return to the (not so) good old days comes as no surprise, and the porky pies have started coming off the denialospheric production line once again.

There have already been a few contrarian ripples on the surface of the climate science seas, which we may well come to in due course. However a set of substantial waves are now visible on the horizon. The proximate cause is the forthcoming summit of the G7 nations, which as luck would have it is taking place just down the road from the Great White Con winter holiday residence in North Cornwall. Then in November the COP26 conference is being held in Glasgow.

According to the G7 UK web site:

In June, Prime Minister Boris Johnson will welcome fellow G7 leaders to one of the most beautiful parts of the UK: Carbis Bay in Cornwall.

Other parts of the region will also play a key role in the Summit, including neighbouring St Ives, Falmouth and Newquay airport.

With over 400 miles of coastline, Cornwall’s stunning landscape provides a perfect setting for world leaders to come together and discuss how to respond to global challenges like coronavirus and climate change.

Here’s one of my recent pictures of some of that coastline, including part of Cornwall’s industrial heritage and some large waves!

Climate change is top of the G7 agenda along with Covid-19, and you can rest assured that vested interests will not miss any opportunity to promote those interests over the next two months and beyond. By way of example, one of our long standing “usual suspects”, Judith Curry, “tweeted” the following message to her followers on April 17th:

We haven’t mentioned Steven Koonin before on this blog, but Judith has done so on hers. Back in 2015 Climate Etc. published a guest post by Mr. Koonin, in which he suggested that:

Even though human influences could have serious consequences for the climate, they are physically small in relation to the climate system as a whole. For example, human additions to carbon dioxide in the atmosphere by the middle of the 21st century are expected to directly shift the atmosphere’s natural greenhouse effect by only 1% to 2%. Since the climate system is highly variable on its own, that smallness sets a very high bar for confidently projecting the consequences of human influences.

Now he’s at it again, only this time he’s written an entire book about how small the effect of “human additions to carbon dioxide in the atmosphere” will prove to be! The title of Steve’s magnum opus is “Unsettled: What Climate Science Tells Us, What It Doesn’t, and Why It Matters.” and as luck would have it the book is due to be published one month before the opening of the G7 Summit in Carbis Bay.

Obviously I haven’t had the privilege of reviewing the book, but its Amazon UK page reveals the table of contents. For some strange reason it makes no mention of the canary in the climate change coal mine. Arctic sea ice.

In Holman W. Jenkins, Jr’s article in the Wall Street Journal, the one which Judy so admires, he points out that:

His book lands at crucial moment. In its first new assessment of climate science in eight years, the U.N. climate panel—sharer of Al Gore’s Nobel Peace Prize in 2007—will rule anew next year on a conundrum that has not advanced in 40 years: How much warming should we expect from a slightly enhanced greenhouse effect?

Quite so Holman! For further details on the progress of the WSJ’s propaganda campaign and many more Kooninisms please see our new article:

“Allegedly ‘Unsettled Science’ by Steven Koonin et al.“

Meanwhile in Carbis Bay preparations are well under way for the arrival of the G7 delegates:

Carnage Bay – Stop the devastation!

Watch this space!

10 thoughts on “The 2021 G7 Summit in Cornwall”

  2. Jen Psaki, Joe Biden’s press secretary, has confirmed that he is coming to Cornwall:

    https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/04/23/statement-by-press-secretary-jen-psaki-on-the-presidents-travel-to-the-united-kingdom-and-belgium/

    President Biden will attend the G7 Summit in Cornwall, U.K., which is happening from June 11-13, where he will reinforce our commitment to multilateralism, work to advance key U.S. policy priorities on public health, economic recovery, and climate change, and demonstrate solidarity and shared values among major democracies. He will also hold bilateral meetings with fellow G7 leaders, including British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

    From the United Kingdom the President will travel to Brussels, Belgium, where he will participate in the NATO Summit on June 14. President Biden will affirm the United States’ commitment to NATO, Transatlantic security, and collective defense. NATO leaders will discuss how to orient the Alliance to future threats and ensure effective burden sharing. The President will also hold bilateral meetings with fellow NATO leaders.

    While in Brussels President Biden will participate in a U.S.–EU Summit, which will underscore our commitment to a strong Transatlantic partnership based on shared interests and values.

    Reply

  3. According to The Guardian:

    Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, and the UK foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, have called for a revitalised and broadened alliance of G7 nations determined to defend open societies and the rules-based order from the threats posed by the autocracies of China and Russia.

    Speaking after a meeting in London on Monday, Raab said he saw “an increasing demand and need for an agile cluster of countries that share the same values and want to protect the multilateral system”.

    He said the fact the UK had invited Australia, South Korea, India and South Africa to the G7 foreign ministers meeting in London was “a sign that we can see a shift to a pattern of like-minded countries working together”.

    Raab said the door to diplomacy was always open with autocracies, but also warned the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, to end his “brinkmanship sabre-rattling on the border of Ukraine, the cyber-attacks and misinformation and the poisoning of Alexei Navalny, that was not just a human rights abuse but a use of chemical weapons on Russian soil”.

    Blinken said it was “not the US purpose to contain China, or hold it down”, adding: “What we are trying to do is to uphold the international rules-based order, that our countries have invested so much in over so many decades to the benefit, I would argue not just of our own citizens but of people around the world, including, by the way, China.

    “And when any country – China or otherwise – takes actions that challenge or undermine or seek to erode that rules-based order and not make good on the commitments that they’ve made to that order, we will stand up and defend the order.”

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  4. According to Reuters:

    The Group of Seven meeting in London was hit by a COVID-19 scare on Wednesday when India’s foreign minister and his entire team said they were self-isolating after two delegation members tested positive.

    Britain is hosting the three-day foreign ministers’ meeting – the first such G7 event in two years – which has been billed as a chance to restart face-to-face diplomacy and a opportunity for the West to show a united front against threats from China and Russia.

    India, currently undergoing the world’s worst surge in COVID-19 cases, is attending the G7 as a guest and had been due to take part in meetings on Tuesday evening and throughout Wednesday.

    “Was made aware yesterday evening of exposure to possible Covid positive cases,” Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said on Twitter.

    “As a measure of abundant caution and also out of consideration for others, I decided to conduct my engagements in the virtual mode. That will be the case with the G7 Meeting today as well.”

    The meeting is a precursor to a G7 summit due to take place at a rural English resort in June, with U.S. President Joe Biden and other world leaders set to attend.

    A British official confirmed the two positive tests and said the entire Indian delegation was self-isolating. British rules require a 10-day self-isolation period.

    Reply

  5. According to a UK Government press release:

    G7 tech leaders agree bold new proposals to boost online safety worldwide
    An ambitious vision to put technology at the heart of global efforts to build back better from the pandemic has been signed by the world’s leading democracies.

    Leaders from the UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the US and EU signed a declaration containing a series of shared principles on how to tackle the global challenge of online safety, including that online firms should have systems and processes in place to reduce illegal and harmful activity and prioritise the protection of children.

    The principles, which have been shaped by the UK’s world-leading approach, say that any steps to improve online safety must support the values of open and democratic societies and respect human rights and fundamental freedoms.

    The joint ministerial declaration was signed at a virtual meeting hosted by UK Digital Secretary Oliver Dowden to fire the starting gun on this year’s G7 Summit. The agreements are part of the first of seven ministerial declarations due to be signed this year.

    Other measures include plans to turbocharge exports by digitising the cumbersome and centuries-old paper-based system for key international trade transactions and improving the free flow of data.

    In a sign of stronger cooperation to address concerns over the market power of big tech platforms, international regulators and policymakers will meet with the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority in the autumn to discuss long term coordination and enforcement.

    etc.

    Reply

  6. According to Cornish Stuff:

    Up to 16 officers of the G7 Police taskforce visited the Penryn home and workshop of Rob Higgs on Wednesday, the co-founder of protest group Ocean Rebellion

    The visit on Wednesday wasn’t quite a raid, Rob told us, but he described the visit as intimidating, excessive and heavy handed. He said the message was, in no uncertain terms, that he could be arrested at any time and that he was being watched.

    “They came just to let me know that they could arrest me at any point in time. They can basically arrest anyone at any time they like. So yeah, it was pretty f—–g weird”…

    Rob Higgs is an globally respected artist of mechanical sculptures and theatrical props with his workshop at Ponsharden Boatyard in Penryn. He is the co-founder of Ocean Rebellion that organise protests against the degradation and pollution of the seas. Rob said these activities are always within the law…

    Ocean Rebellion is formally separate from Extinction Rebellion in all respects but draws on lessons learned in XR’s development.

    “The thing that makes it dubious and worrying is that we overtly state that we work legally, we work to lobby and we don’t have the same methods as XR, of mass arrests and disruption” said Rob. “The Extinction Rebellion angle is to overtly disrupt and create disruption as a specific aim. We are very different.”

    Reply

  7. This morning two members of Ocean Rebellion disguised themselves as Boris Johnson and a petrol can and set fire to a boat on Marazion beach:

    According to the accompanying press release:

    The action was part of an ongoing series of protests leading up to the G7 summit to be held nearby, featuring Boris Johnson sharing intimate quality-time in Cornwall with a Fossil Fuel Buddy. The celebrity pair were seen sitting on deck-chairs as the sun rose and a boat burned in the bay, billowing black smoke, across its sail inscribed ‘Your Children’s Future.’…

    Sophie Miller says “Countless young people have already decided not to have children because the future they will face is simply too hard. With extreme weather already afflicting many people, crop-yields are failing and food shortages are leading to conflict, forced migration and famine. Our disregard of the Ocean has led to a catastrophic decline in fish stocks, with many crucial habitats totally destroyed…

    Shipping emissions are causing elevated levels of atmospheric CO2, and black carbon from heavy fuel oil (HFO) used in shipping, is causing accelerated melting of polar ice. HFO is a waste product of the oil industry. Ocean Rebellion calls for a ban on use of HFO, especially in sensitive polar regions.”

    Rob Higgs added “We call for a reduction of shipping emissions by at least 10% a year starting now by means such as fuel efficient slow sailing and retiring of inefficient ships, so as to be consistent with Paris Agreement goals…

    G7 heads of state Joe Biden, Boris Johnson, Justin Trudeau, Emanuel Macron, Angela Merkel, Mario Draghi, Suga Yoshihide and Ursula Von der Leyen — the choice is yours: live on in infamy, remembered only for your failure to act while there was still time, or rise to the occasion and act. “

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  8. News has reached us via our North Cornwall associates that Joe Biden has managed to land safely at Newquay Airport and make his way to Carbis Bay without being attacked by the local insect life:

    Reply

  10. Some slightly belated coverage in The Guardian of the Surfers Against Sewage G7 paddle out protest today:

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jun/12/environmental-campaigners-stage-festival-type-protests-at-g7

    Thousands of protesters, young and old, took to the sea and the beaches and streets of Cornwall to try to make their voices heard by the G7 leaders.

    Arguably, the most picturesque demonstration took place off Gyllyngvase Beach in Falmouth where more than 1,000 surfers, kayakers and swimmers staged a “paddle out” organised by Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) to call for more protection for the world’s seas and oceans.

    Surfers from all over the UK unfurled banners demanding: “Save our seas” while others chanted: “Climate action, now!” and: “Do not let our planet die!” A giant, inflatable shark warned against the issue of sea life consuming discarded plastic.

    Reply

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