This morning (Wednesday, October 27) a group of climate activists say they will be meeting in the Parade square in Liskeard to read out the charges of “crimes against humanity and ecocide against world governments, including our own” ahead of next week’s COP26 climate conference of world leaders .

Jacqueline Rukin, of the group South East Cornwall Extinction Rebellion, says: “Governments have known for years that putting economic growth at the forefront of their policies and actively supporting companies and corporations that devastate the planet for profit will have serious far-reaching consequences. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has warned that we are now at Code Red for Humanity, a term used by the IPCC in their latest global report released in August.

“We are facing a catastrophic Climate and Ecological Emergency that could have been avoided if governments had acted sooner. They have failed in their collective duty of care to safeguard the citizens of the world. In the words of Antonio Guterres, ‘they are using our money to boost hurricanes, to spread droughts, to bleach corals, to melt glaciers; in other words, to destroy the world’.

“The Charge Sheet will state that ‘our actions must charge the world’s most powerful governments with mass manslaughter by gross negligence. The COP process is systematically corrupted by vested interests. It perpetuates injustice and failure. 25 meetings have so far failed to prevent catastrophic rises in emissions’.

“Three of the activists will read out charges relating specifically to the loss of biodiversity, the damage to the oceans and rising sea levels, and the continuing impact of fossil fuel subsidies.

“To complete the Action, they will send out a call for all citizens to stand together, to hold their politicians to account, and demand that immediate action is taken to bring about the social and economic changes that are urgently required to mitigate the worst effects of the climate and environmental crisis we are now facing.

“Time is running out but a kinder, fairer world is still just possible.”