Young climate change protesters in the Highlands will take part in demonstrations to demand greater action on the climate crisis next month.
Friday for Future Scotland, previously known as Scottish Youth Climate Strike, has announced that they will join other young people around the world in climate strikes on September 24.
An event planned in Ullapool will involve students and school pupils protesting at the Clock Tower on Quay Street from 8.30am.
The Scottish branch of the international youth movement, founded by Greta Thunberg, has also organised events in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Stirling.
There will be more than 700 protests worldwide with hundreds of thousands of people expected to attend ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) later this year.
Young people are calling on the UK and Scottish governments to “act in line with what is required”. This includes committing to a just transition for oil workers into renewable energy, creating accessible public transport and committing to higher emission targets.
Return to physical protesting
Prior to the pandemic, more than 40,000 people took to the streets of Scotland for a worldwide protest on September 20, 2019. After a year of digital striking and other online actions, physical protesting is making a return.
Young activists from across Scotland have shared the reasons why they feel passionate about protesting for increased climate action.
Anna Brown, 19, from Glasgow, said: “With COP26 coming to Glasgow, Scotland and the UK as a whole will be on the world stage.
“The UK has a historic responsibility for greenhouse gas emissions, and COP is our opportunity to show that we are taking the science seriously and addressing the global inequality that makes the climate crisis so devastating.”
Dylan Hamilton, 17, from West Lothian, said: “Scotland is not following the current science, we are using far more than our fair share of emissions to stay in line with the Paris Agreement.
“Real action has not been taken, despite many great promises from the government. The recent IPCC report has given us a code red warning, we can’t afford to move slowly anymore.”
Cora, 15, from Edinburgh, said: “While the Covid pandemic has taken over the world, the climate crisis hasn’t gone anywhere and has only continued to get worse.
“It has ravaged countless towns through floods across Europe, the wildfires in North America, droughts causing famines in Madagascar and Iran. We can’t afford to continue to ignore this crisis because the consequences will be catastrophic.”
