The 2021 G7 Summit in Cornwall

The forthcoming summit of the G7 nations is taking place on the north coast of Cornwall, just down the road from Davidstow . 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!

Cornwall Council has recently issued guidance about the G7 summit, which is likely to be of interest to both residents and visitors to the area over the next couple of weeks. Here it is:

https://www.cornwall.gov.uk/council-news/g7-cornwall-2021/

Here too are the maps detailing the forthcoming restrictions on your movements around St. Ives, Newquay Airport and Falmouth during the summit:

Here too is an image from a recent article in The Guardian:

Devon and Cornwall force expect challenges ranging from foreign leaders’ security to gull attacks on drones.

The police force in charge of law and order at the G7 summit in Cornwall has said it faces challenges ranging from the “tricky” business of liaising with foreign leaders’ security details to not wrecking people’s holidays – and stopping gulls from attacking their drones.

Devon and Cornwall police, which is leading the operation for next month’s summit, said officers, backed by military planners and intelligence agencies, would patrol from the land, air and sea to keep the event safe.

On Tuesday it allowed reporters to watch firearms officers going through their paces and drone pilots practising their skills as final preparations were made for the largest operation in its history.

Officers fired Heckler and Koch G36 carbines and Glock pistols in an indoor range at the force’s headquarters in Exeter. They will also have access to a range of other equipment including baton rounds, typically used in riot control, Taser stun guns, smoke and stun grenades and incapacitant spray.

It probably makes sense to stay away from those areas over the long weekend of the G7 event, unless you have a particular reason to go there? Surfing Watergate Bay certainly looks to be fraught with difficulty!

6 Replies to “The 2021 G7 Summit in Cornwall”

  1. I’ve just stumbled across the Devon & Cornwall Police’s “Project Servator” web page, which makes interesting reading:

    https://www.devon-cornwall.police.uk/advice/major-incidents-and-terrorism/project-servator/

    Project Servator is the name given to unpredictable, highly visible police deployments, designed to disrupt a wide range of criminal activity, including terrorist.

    In more detail:

    The tactics are designed to identify and disrupt hostile reconnaissance – the information gathering a criminal does when planning to commit a criminal act, including terrorist attacks.

    They involve both uniformed and plain clothes officers who are specially trained to spot the tell-tale signs that an individual may have criminal intent. They are supported by other resources, such as police dogs, ​armed officers, CCTV operators, Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) and vehicle checkpoints.

    The approach relies on police working together with the community – businesses, partners and members of the public – to build a network of vigilance and encourage suspicious activity to be reported.

    Project Servator has been successful in gathering intelligence that has assisted Counter Terrorism Units across the UK in investigating and preventing acts of terror. It has resulted in many arrests for a multitude of offences and is responsible for removing firearms, knives and drugs from the streets.

  2. Photographer Kai Greet has taken a series of pictures of the arrival of the US military in Cornwall in advance of the G7 Summit later this week, including the Presidential helicopter Marine One:

    Plus some Great British helicopters as well:

    https://twitter.com/KaiGreet/status/1401911979254681600

    Plus this video from a couple of days ago of moving MV-22B Ospreys at Exeter Airport

  3. Boris Johnson and Joe Biden have now both arrived in Cornwall:

  4. As luck would have it the road closures seem to have kept large crowds away from Watergate Bay during the G7 Summit. We managed to fit in an enjoyable surfing session there on Sunday.

    However the summit itself seems to have been far less of a success. Here’s a summary of the outcome from the Guardian:

    The G7 summit ended with rich nations reaffirming their goal to limit global heating to 1.5C, and agreeing to protect and restore 30% of the natural world by the end of this decade, but failing to provide the funds experts say will be needed to reach such goals.

    Boris Johnson badly needed a successful G7 deal on climate finance to pave the way for vital UN climate talks, called Cop26, to be held in Glasgow this November. Climate finance is provided by rich countries to developing nations, to help them cut greenhouse gas emissions and cope with the impacts of climate breakdown, and was supposed to reach $100bn a year by 2020, but has fallen far short.

    Jennifer Morgan, executive director of Greenpeace, said: “The G7 have failed to set us up for a successful Cop26, as trust is sorely lacking between rich and developing countries.”

    Without stronger commitments on climate finance, Johnson will face an uphill struggle in getting support for any Cop26 deal from the developing world, who make up the majority of countries at the UN climate talks and who will make or break any deal there.

    The prime minister was left to re-announce previously allocated cash, in the form of a £500m blue planet fund for marine conservation, already set out last year, while the other G7 members refused to stump up funds. About $2bn is to be provided to help countries phase out coal-fired power generation, but it is not clear whether this is new money.

  5. There has recently been a sudden jump in the number of cases of Covid-19 in Cornwall. Zooming in on the interactive map provided on the UK Coronavirus Dashboard reveals a startling correlation between a high case rate and the locations used by the G7 Summit that finished yesterday:

  6. A paparazzo with a long lens has spotted the once United Kingdom’s Prime Minister plunging scantily clad into the North Atlantic whilst enjoying a brief break from the no doubt difficult G7 negotiations:

    Joe and Jill Biden were conspicuous by their absence from the auspicious occasion.

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