School pupils invited to climate summit in Manchester

Over 300 pupils from schools across Manchester came together last Friday (January 17) for a summit on climate change. 

The Young People’s Climate Change Action Summit was the second of its kind, with the first meeting held in July last year.

Children aged 9-14 from all schools in Greater Manchester were invited to take part.

The school children were invited to express their views on how climate change should be tackled and they were then challenged by a panel of local civic leaders.

Pupils were also invited to take part in workshops hosted by experts, exploring the steps that can be taken at home and at school to reduce their carbon footprint.

Angela Mozumber in year 9 said: ‘I believe that climate change is an issue ignored by far too many people and being on the Eco Committee makes me feel there is still hope to make more people aware of the issue.

‘It makes me feel happy that we are making positive impacts, but we still have a lot to do.’

Executive member for the environment, planning and transport, Angeliki Stogia, said: ‘As a council, we have reduced our carbon emissions by almost 50% since 2010 and are continuing to forge ahead, adopting an ambitious target for the city to be zero-carbon by 2038 at the lastest.

‘For Manchester to meet its goal, everyone in the city will need to play their part. Our young people have been and will continue to be a strong voice for radical change, so this summit was an important opportunity both to listen to them and give them the opportunity to develop their ideas further.’

In related news, this weekend the first-ever UK citizens assembly on climate change will meet to learn about and discuss a set of issues related to climate change.

The hope is that this process will give parliament a greater understanding of what people across the UK really think about climate change and will also outline how the UK can reach net-zero by 2050.

Photo Credit – Pixabay