Lewis Pugh To Swim Red Sea To Highlight Climate Change

BRITISH endurance swimmer Lewis Pugh will swim 100 miles across the Red Sea to highlight the impact of climate change on fragile coral reefs.

- Emily Beament

The UN patron of the oceans, who has previously swum in the Arctic, Antarctica and on Everest to highlight environmental damage, will complete the challenge ahead of UN Cop27 climate talks in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt.

Plymouth-born Lewis - the ambassador for the Plymouth Sound National Marine Park said he hopes his swim, the first across the Red Sea, will highlight the speed of the climate crisis and its impact on precious coral ecosystems and the wildlife they support.

He is calling on leaders and negotiators attending Cop27 to drastically cut greenhouse gas emissions to tackle climate change, and for 30% of the world's oceans to be protected by 2030 to help them be more resilient to rising temperatures.

The UN's scientific review body, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said 70-90% of coral reefs would be lost with global warming of 1.5C but would all but vanish in a world with 2C rises.