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How a polluted US river gives hope to cleaning up UK waterways

Fifty years ago, traversing the length of the Hudson would have been life-threatening. But I’ve just swum all 315 miles of it, writes endurance athlete Lewis Pugh – its reinvention should be a call to action for Britain too

Sunday 15 October 2023 12:49 BST
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Lewis Pugh: ‘Rivers are the arteries of our planet. They sustain life on Earth. We cannot have a healthy planet without healthy rivers’
Lewis Pugh: ‘Rivers are the arteries of our planet. They sustain life on Earth. We cannot have a healthy planet without healthy rivers’ (AP)

I’ll never forget my first sight of a bald eagle. It was in August this year, when I was swimming down the Hudson River. This magnificent bird took off from high in the forest canopy and started following me down the river. What made this sighting even more extraordinary is that, until recently, the bald eagle, which is the symbol of America, was virtually extinct in the Hudson Valley

I swam the length of the Hudson – 315 miles from the source in the Adirondack mountains all the way to New York City – to highlight the importance of clean rivers. Rivers are the arteries of our planet. They sustain life on Earth. We cannot have a healthy planet without healthy rivers.

When we dump industrial waste, agricultural run-off, raw sewage and plastic into rivers, we not only pollute the river, but affect all the life in it. Everything that goes into a river ultimately flows into the sea and does the same thing there. Rivers and oceans should never be dumping grounds – as they’ve sadly become in Britain. I believe this is a national disgrace, and one which will have long-term consequences.

For me this is an issue of justice. Justice between ourselves and future generations – we must leave a planet to our children which is sustainable. There is also justice between ourselves and the animal kingdom – right now about 1 million species are on the verge of extinction. We are not the only species on this planet, and our lives are inextricably linked to all life on earth.

This was made so clear to me during my time on the Hudson River, which has an incredible story to tell. At its source, the forest is thick and lush, and provides a healthy environment for beavers, vultures and black bears. At its end, the river flows into one of the greatest cities ever built.

Without exception, every person I met along the Hudson said how much the river meant to them, and were understandably proud of what has been achieved in it. Fifty years ago, the Hudson was one of the most polluted rivers in the USA, if not the world. A swim down the length of it would have been life-threatening.

One man told me that when he was young, he would look out across the river and it would be yellow one day, and red the next, and the following day green. He lived next to a car factory, and so the colour of the river depended on the colour of the car they were painting that day.

In the 1970s, New Yorkers said “enough is enough”. They started cleaning up their river, mile by mile, town by town, and factory after factory – backed up by sweeping new environmental laws. Through their efforts, they turned the fate of their river, and its wildlife, around.

There is still much work to be done, but the Hudson is an example and an inspiration. I believe it gives hope to people all over the world that their rivers can also be saved.

Hope can be a dangerous word, however. Hope can lead to an abdication of responsibility. To thinking that someone else will clean a river, some company will stop polluting it, or someone will come up with a magical technological solution. We have to earn hope, which means taking action every single day. And this only works if it starts from the top.

At a time when our country is crying out for strong leadership, we see a prime minister weakening crucial efforts to protect our planet. My message to leaders in the UK, and across the world, is this: if in 2023 you are not taking bold and rapid steps to restore and protect our environment you are no longer fit to lead. This is the defining issue of our generation.

During my month-long swim, there were devastating floods, droughts and wildfires across the USA from New York to California and all the way to Hawaii. Extreme weather events also occurred in Greece, Libya, China, Canada, South Africa... the list goes on. In fact, name a country where this is not happening.

Too many lives have been lost. Too many homes destroyed. Infrastructure overwhelmed. Water polluted. Wildlife and livestock killed. Disruption everywhere.

When we damage the environment, we create conditions that are ripe for conflict. People will fight over limited resources. However when we protect the environment, we foster peace.

As I swam into New York, I could see the Statue of Liberty in the distance. There she was holding the torch up high. It made me think: everything that we hold dear relies on clean drinking water, fresh air and a habitable planet.

Lewis Pugh is an endurance swimmer and the UN Patron of the Oceans

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