02 Aug
2006 - London, UK – British polar explorer and
endurance swimmer Lewis Gordon Pugh, who is attempting
to become the first person to swim the entire
length of the River Thames, will be jumping out
of the river at Westminster to make a personal
plea to Tony Blair and the UK government to meet
their national climate change targets. In particular,
Lewis is urging the Prime Minister to put policies
in place to reduce CO2 emissions by 20 per cent
by 2010.
Lewis, who has been swimming
for 17 days and has already covered an incredible
222km, is now on the home straight and hopes to
complete the challenge this Sunday.
“It’s been a tough swim,"
Lewis said, "but the end is in sight now
and all the effort will have been worth it if
anyone watching my progress is inspired to do
their bit to help stop climate change."
“That is why I am stopping off
at Downing Street, to ask Tony Blair to urgently
put climate change at the very top of his agenda,
by putting policies in place to ensure that we
meet our national climate change targets to reduce
CO2 emissions.”
Having previously experienced
extreme conditions swimming the icy waters of
the Arctic and Antarctic, Lewis was fully prepared
and looking forward to a much warmer swim along
the gentle waters of the Thames. But the increasingly
desperate drought and unprecedented hot and humid
weather has made this a much more demanding challenge.
However, Lewis set out to raise
awareness on the damaging effects of climate change
both in the Arctic and closer to home, and the
extreme weather in the UK has only helped to highlight
this message.
"We are extremely proud
to have supported Lewis in this challenge and
grateful that he is raising awareness about the
serious impacts of climate change," said
Matt Davis, WWF-UK's Climate Change campaign director.
"We also echo Lewis’s personal
plea to Tony Blair, to ensure the UK plays a key
role in setting an example to the rest of the
world in tackling climate change.
“We are also urging individuals
to sign our petition to Tony Blair, calling for
government action on climate change, and making
a personal pledge to take action in their own
lives to save carbon.”
George Hadley
