people wake up to growing evidence of the devastating impacts of climate change on human communities and the natural world. They are frustrated at the slow pace of action and tired of waiting for the machinery of politics and capitalism. Young people of diverse genders, ethnicities and socio-economic backgrounds, from across the UK and around the world, call for immediate and urgent action at all levels of government, business and civil society, to rise to the challenge of responding to the climate emergency.
Conference statement summary We, the young people who gathered at the Cumberland Lodge virtual conference, Climate Futures: Youth Perspectives, offer the following recommendations to the international delegations and other stakeholders preparing for the UNFCCC COP26 summit in Glasgow. Please work with us: we are your partners, and only by working together can we make a better future possible. We urge you to urgently implement the following initiatives and democratic reforms, to safeguard our interests and involve us more meaningfully in decision-making that affects our futures. 1. As an outcome of COP26, create a Youth Climate Parliament to facilitate international and intergenerational dialogue on climate solutions and resilience, over the next decade. 2. Lower the voting age to 16 years old, in line with the Scottish model. 3. Conduct citizens’ assemblies on climate action, building on the successful use of citizens’ assemblies on politically divisive issues in Ireland. 4. Protect the interests of future generations with legislation that requires public bodies to adequately consider the long-term impacts of their decision-making, following the example of the Welsh Well-being of Future Generations Act.
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