This Friday, pupils and students across the world will again be participating in school climate action walk-outs inspired by 16 year old Greta Thunberg, calling on governments to act now on climate change.
I remember when the news came in of the Paris Agreement. I had been watching the negotiations like a hawk, reporting on it for my student newspaper and blogging about it. At the time, I was studying in the USA, and little did I expect that great power to pull out of one of the most important concords to have occurred for decades.
Even symbolically, the Paris Agreement showed countries across the globe were thinking seriously about climate change. Despite this, the agreement was just that: agreement.
Countries noted something needed to be done and that the situation was bad. In the UK, carbon emissions are on the way down, but there is still a long way to go.
It is completely understandable that young people want action now. In doing so, they are embracing Goal 13 of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, which asks for a commitment for countries to take action to combat climate change and its impacts. These Global Goals are an urgent call for action by all countries - developed and developing - in a global partnership, and we at Keep Scotland Beautiful are also signed up to them.
It is extremely encouraging to see so many people taking a stand on this huge issue, especially when the amount of climate change we have already “signed-up for” makes for some scary reading. A recent survey by Young Scot, found that nearly half (42%) of young people consider that they themselves have some responsibility to tackle climate change, but only a third are aware of the practical actions they could take.
So, what are some of the practical steps young people can take in order to make a difference?
