If this Covid 19 pandemic has taught us anything, it has shown us the importance of having ready access to nature and being able to breathe clean fresh air, for our health and wellbeing. It has highlighted the vulnerability of those with asthma or breathing problems due to ill health or living in an area with polluted air. Our Staffordshire Moorlands Council know this. Their website, introducing the results of a 2019 survey states that “clean air is essential for health”. It goes on to explain the main pollutant of concern in the Staffordshire Moorlands is the Greenhouse Gas Nitrogen dioxide of which emissions from road traffic was the largest contributor.
Around the same time in India, a Young Climate Activist, Licypriya Kangujam was campaigning for leaders to act, to reduce the impact of air pollution and climate change in her home city. Licypriya was just 8 years old. Climate change is a global issue and children throughout the world are raising their voices to demand action from the adults who could act, if only they had the will and courage to do so.
Do you remember the cereal packets we used to get as children, with free plastic toys or picture cards inside? Things haven’t changed much these days; these cheap plastic give-aways are everywhere. Have you noticed how many children’s magazines there are and how many of them give away free, tacky plastic toys and gifts?
In July 2019, HuffPost UK began their feature on give-away plastic by big brands, pointing out that:- ‘There are an estimated 19,500,000,000 pieces of single-use plastic inside UK homes.” They quoted Jo Ruxton, Plastic Oceans UK founder, who explained: “Children’s comics are no longer available without a plastic toy to take home ……. now it seems it’s the children, who care for the environment, who are rejecting this policy.”
When I was younger, I never thought the little stuff like sorting our rubbish into different bins or walking to school everyday was important. As I grew up, I started to ask more questions and as it turns out, I was helping the planet for all those years without even realising it. As I became more aware, I started to notice that as a family, we did things slightly differently to most families.
At about the age of seven, my sister and I became vegetarian and my mum became vegan. Over the course of the next year, we slowly transitioned to vegan, the rest of my family following suit not long after. Our dietary choices made it difficult to eat out as there wasn't a lot of choice and after looking into it more, we found that the ingredients weren't the only problem. We were shocked at how much food restaurants and fast food chains waste and as we were not in control of what was wasted we started taking packed lunches whenever we went out, it was cheaper and it was better for the environment so it was a win win for us. Becoming vegan made us more aware of what’s in our food, it made us think about where it came from and what the actual cost of our meals was.
Students hold banner at 2019 school climate strike
Demanding reform to the education system? That’s quite an ambition. We might ask, who is demanding such a thing and why?
Teach the Future are demanding this. They are an active, young UK based climate crisis campaign group, led by over 40 students from England, Scotland and Wales. They are advised by a small, multi-professional adult advisory board who offer expert advice to support the students’ decision making.
Teach the Future explains the need for reform and the inclusion of climate education as follows:-
Read more: Young Climate Activists ‘Teach the Future’ – for Climate...
Declaration of Mock COP26 - We, the delegates of the youth-led Mock COP26, drawn from 140 countries of the world, meeting between 19 November 2020 and 1 December 2020, consider that:
1.a. Governments around the world are failing to meet their legal and moral obligations to tackle the climate and ecological crisis, despite the increasing urgency and projected scale of the crisis;....
Unbelievably, despite Government and councils across the UK declaring a Climate Emergency and pledging to decrease CO2 levels, West Cumbria council has approved the mining of coal at Woodhouse colliery near Whitehaven, the first deep coal mine in England for 30 years.
There has been considerable opposition to this, led by many local campaign groups and individuals including 16 year old Isabella Bridgeman. Isabella played a big part in gathering support and protesting against this mining project. She targeted members of the council and encouraged the local community to respond to the public consultation. Their fight is ongoing and awaits a final decision. Friends of the Earth (FoE) explain how this project “will release an extraordinary volume of greenhouse gas emissions over its 50 year lifespan”. FoE are highlighting the issue of new mining developments. Another, in Druridge Bay, has been rejected. Government Minister Robert Jenrick refused planning permission then as "not environmentally acceptable".
Read more: Young Climate Activist Isabella Bridgeman and others