Scottish youngsters due to march in the streets for first global youth climate strike since COP26 summit

School pupils and students from across Scotland will join thousands of other young people around the globe who are skipping lessons this Friday to protest against a lack of action to tackle the climate emergency.

More than 700 protests are being held worldwide, with at least seven in Scotland, as part of the first global youth climate strike since the COP26 climate summit was held in Glasgow late last year.

Strikes are taking place across the country, with gatherings planned in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Stirling, Inverness, Dumfries, Falkirk and Ullapool.

The demonstrations are being spearheaded by Fridays For Future, a movement which started after teenager Greta Thunberg began boycotting school each week to sit outside the Swedish parliament to shame politician over their inadequate response to the environmental crisis.

Teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg tells a mass rally in Glasgow that the COP26 climate summit was a "failure" -- the young Swede had earlier joined thousands of young people, including striking school pupils, for a march through the city. Picture: John Devlin

More than 35,000 youngsters, joined by the Swedish activist, marched through the streets of Glasgow during the United Nations COP26 conference last November to demand climate justice.

The following day, 100,000 people of all ages from all over the world did the same.

Fridays For Future Scotland members say this week’s global climate strike will keep the pressure up on politicians to take action, instead of making empty promises.

In a statement, the group said: “COP26 failed us – not that we ever expected it to deliver.

“Across the globe the planet burns while wealth and power grows yet more concentrated in the hands of the few.

“Decision-makers sit back, choosing to not to protect people and planet but to exacerbate the climate crisis.

“Young people all around the world are standing against this dereliction of duty.”

One of the demands is to “put people before profit” and end use of fossil fuels, the key source of greenhouse gas emissions.

Cerys Gough, 18, from Langholm, said: “The science is clear.

“We’ve already seen irreversible damage caused by the climate crisis, and the recent IPCC report declared a code red situation.

“We cannot afford to delay any more, which is why we’re taking to the streets again.”

Cora Gibson, 15, from Edinburgh, added: “We don’t need to wait for the next COP to act on the climate crisis.

“Governments could be investing in renewable energy, phasing out fossil fuels, improving public transport, making our houses less reliant on fossil fuels and so much more.”

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