The 17-year-old Lily from Inverness said: “We are in this crisis. Action is very important. The Fridays For Future movement has not existed as long as COP, but we have had an impact. There are 30,000 people on the streets. , This is the largest youth strike in the history of Scotland-surprisingly speaking.”
Fancy wine
When asked what she would say to world leaders at the Glasgow meeting, she added: “First of all, why do we let polluters sponsor events related to climate change? That part puzzles me. It doesn’t make any sense to us. The polluters must now be driven out. It creates a sense of powerlessness. This is terrible and completely wrong.
“We missed our goal in Scotland. I don’t understand. I never thought I would call myself a climate activist. But we have to do something. This is not just climate justice, but social justice, because it will be different The way it affects us all. I will go through all the goals, which seems scary to me.”
The 15-year-old Cora from Edinburgh said: “We need to really change the way politics is in our society. Even if they have not received a special climate change education, there is a leader who will make all the appeals? We need to have experienced climate change. People who influence, such as those from the global south, are in power. Let not all people who go to Cambridge enter the government of a superpower. This is good for ordinary people, the working class and people in the global south, so we can develop better policy.”
She added: “We all know that COP is just a theater run by capitalists. We know that when the COP ends, we will only have empty promises and wrong solutions. We can look forward to it again and again. We let those who put profits on their own. It’s up to the people and the people on the earth to manage it, and let them be responsible. We let them take pictures and drink fine wine. They know they can get away with it.
“Let that kind of capitalist theater hold every COP, we will never see the changes we need now. It will go back to doing things without that kind of world negotiation. It must go back to individual countries, they need Start to adopt our own policies. We know that COP will never work. Capitalists can’t do it.”
Change
She concluded: “We need to change the system. We need to tax large companies and levy them appropriately. A fair transition will cost a lot of money… To achieve this change, we must start to be responsible for the actual emissions. 100 companies are taxed. I am a vegetarian, but this alone does not bring about the changes we need to see.”
The 15-year-old Bessie from Glasgow said: “This is really about children. Children have to do this because no one is listening. If we have to resort to that, it’s already bad. I’m going to study today. Dual physics or fighting for the world I want to live in? Many emotions are raised because I should not make these decisions. For us, this is not just a job or a career. This is what we think must be Things to do.”
When asked about politicians, she added: “They just need to listen. These world leaders have been voted to represent the people here. But they are not. They just see it as a social gathering. A party. A grand event. A Ball. But this is not the case. We beg them to do something. We beg them to help us and save us. But they just ignore it. We are ignored. They need to listen to the opinions of scientists. Get recognized and do something about it. “
However, Bessie does not have much hope for COP26. “I don’t think this will be an exception. We have had 25 COPs before this. What will be different this time? This is during the pandemic, but that doesn’t mean it will get better. I think we will see The changes are very small.
“I really hope we will see bigger changes. We have a lot of activists and people who really care about the front lines. We hope that the climate strike will make sense for those who make decisions. But from the trends we have seen in the past, I doubt that we will see a lot of meaningful changes.”
Deforestation
Cammie, a 15-year-old Scottish climate justice activist, said: “The fact that we have to sacrifice education shows how much this means to us and how much we care about the world and the future in which we will grow up. We just play truant. In order to have hope for a livable future. This sends a strong message about how much we care about this issue.
“For me, one of the biggest problems is to provide a platform for fossil fuel lobbyists and others. Even at this COP, there are hundreds of representatives from the fossil fuel industry-a conference on climate change. This is true. It doesn’t make any sense. The media are often very condescending and untrue in their reports on youth strikes. The climate crisis needs to be better reported.”
He said that world leaders “really need to start taking this matter seriously. They say they care about this crisis, and they want to make a change, transition from fossil fuels and everything else that causes climate change. But they time and time again. It has been shown time and time again that once the speech is over, they will forget everything they just said and continue to fund and allow fossil fuel projects such as the North Sea Cambo Oil Field-Boris Johnson and Nicolas Sturgeon refused to take action.”
He concluded: “This year [COP] It is following a similar pattern that we have seen in previous years. Bold statements and commitments about leading climate action. However, as we have seen in too many COPs in the past, none of these commitments have been kept or the goals achieved. If these leaders fail to achieve their goals, we have no legal binding force or any consequences for them. On the surface, many things they announced, such as ending deforestation, sound good, but honestly, I doubt it will be very successful. “
The panel discussion was part of a series of events held in the Green Zone of the COP26 conference, as well as booths and advertisements from sponsors such as Land Rover, Microsoft and GlaxoSmithKline. The blue area where representatives from all over the world are discussing possible climate mitigation policies is only a few steps away from the hotel, but is closed to the public due to high fences and strict security measures.
This author
Brendan Montague is the editor Ecologist.
