Some 50 activists from France, Germany and the Netherlands block the arrival into the southern French port of Sète of the freight ship Ellirea, to draw attention to booming deforestation for soya production.

The vessel was carrying 50,000 tonnes of soymeal from Cotegipe, Salvador in Brazil for use as animal feed in the EU industrial livestock sector, another major driver of climate change.

On the same day that France hit record temperatures of 45.9 degrees celsius only 50km away in the village of Gallargues-le-Montueux, activists at the quayside in Sète blocked the ship’s access to the berth and four unloading cranes and unfolded banners reading ‘Stop industrial livestock’ and ‘Warning: soya that deforests’, while others in canoes and inflatable boats repainted the hull of the Ellirea with the words ‘Forest Killer’.