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For Immediate Release
Contact:

Greenpeace UK Press Office - press.uk@greenpeace.org

Response to Devastation of Cyclone Idai

LONDON

In response to the devastation being caused in southern Africa by Cyclone Idai, Mel Evans, a Climate Campaigner for Greenpeace UK, said -

"We mourn the awful loss of people's families and loved ones by the tropical cyclone Idai in Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe. This storm with its associated extreme rainfall is set to result in one of the highest cyclone-related death tolls recorded in the southern hemisphere. Because of climate change, scientists expect cyclones in the region to become more intense with more intense rainfall. The average CO2 emissions of a citizen of Mozambique, Malawi or Zimbabwe is a tiny fraction of a European's or an American's. The people who have done the least to cause climate change are at the front of the queue to receive its impacts and have far fewer resources to prepare for the storm, or repair the damage. Climate change has no borders and this tragic loss of life must be a wake-up call to the British government to urgently deliver on its climate goals. It's time for the UK to call the climate crisis what it is, an emergency, and start treating it like one."

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