Mock COP26: Young people call for more action on climate change

Image source, Tobias Titz

More than 300 young people, from 140 countries, who attended the virtual climate change conference Mock COP26 have come up with a list of demands for world leaders asking them to act now to tackle the climate emergency.

They have drawn up a plan including calls for more education on climate change, better protection for activists and for ecocide (when large areas of the natural environment are destroyed) to be made illegal.

They are asking politicians to commit to real change in the run up to the delayed UN climate change conference COP26 which is due to take place in Glasgow in 2021.

Suphane Dash-Alleyne, a Mock COP26 representative from Guyana, South America, said: "The year 2020 was meant to be the year of bold climate action, where world leaders turned words into actions. The global pandemic may have pressed pause on global negotiations, but the threat of a climate catastrophe is not going away.

"Mock COP26 sends a strong message to world leaders that young people can coordinate global negotiations and we have the solutions. Now is the time for us to have a seat at the table. World leaders can and must succeed at COP26 and it is critical that we work together to create a green, healthy and resilient future for us all."

Video caption, Climate change: We heard from teenagers taking part in Mock COP26

What are they asking for?

  • More education for young people about climate change.
  • Protection for climate change activists.
  • Inclusion of young people in decision making about climate change, for example inviting them to take part in COP26 negotiations.
  • For governments to commit to limiting global warming to below 1.5 degrees Celsius.
  • A ban offshoring of emissions. This is a process where wealthier countries get things made in poorer countries so the emissions are created in a different part of the world.
  • Stronger regulations to limit air pollution.
  • Help farmers to move away from methods which damage the environment.
  • Make ecocide, the mass destruction and damage of the environment by human activity, illegal.