Politicians trying to discredit school climate strikers – Holly, 13

I am striking – and have been striking for an hour every Friday since 11 January – because, although Scotland claims to be a world leader when it comes to taking action on climate change, we are in the worst third of countries for carbon emissions per capita, writes Holly Gillibrand.

Holly Gillibrand, 13, from Fort William, has been skipping school for an hour every Friday to call for action against climate change to be ramped up

The Scottish Government needs to declare a climate and ecological emergency, and take action to come into line with the Paris Agreement and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report.

My future and the future of life on this planet depends on our world leaders taking the action that is needed to limit the catastrophic effects of climate change.

The adults – and politicians – who claim that we are striking just to miss school are trying to discredit us and distract themselves and other people from the cause of our action, rather than engaging with the serious issue of climate and ecological breakdown.

They feel threatened by climate change and we are threatening their beliefs and their way of living because we want change and we want our leaders to treat the climate and ecological crisis as the crisis it is.

I hope that when governments realise that the youth are serious, and that we are the voters of the (near) future, they will take us seriously, listen to our demands and take action.

We don’t want to skip school, but we don’t have a choice – it is our future at stake.

Holly Gillibrand is a 13-year-old pupil from Fort William