Democracy and activism The final session of the conference was opened by Camilla Born, Deputy Director of Strategy for COP26 at the UK Cabinet Office. As a youth climate activist, Born was involved in both the UK Youth Climate Coalition and the Youth Constituency of the UNFCCC (YOUNGO). She offered three pieces of advice to young people preparing to participate in the UNFCCC climate meetings in Glasgow:
• Spend time building strong working relationships with climate officials
• You have the most power and leverage where you have ‘skin in
the game’, for example on 'Action for Climate Empowerment' (the UNFCCC term for work under Article 6 of the Climate Convention, and Article 12 of the Paris Agreement, which covers climate education)
• Focus on what you can realistically ‘get over the line’ during the
two weeks of the COP26 summit, and act early to shape what is possible.
William Eccles shared information about The Commitment, a campaign for voters to pledge to vote for candidates who prioritise climate action and biodiversity conservation. The goal of this initiative is to send a clear message to politicians that climate and the natural world should be higher up on their political agendas. The Commitment is also a platform for voters to share personal messages about why the environment is a voting priority for them. Eccles referenced the recent publication Britain Talks Climate by Climate Outreach, which identified seven segments of the electorate, based on different political motivations. He shared data on the percentage of each segment that prioritises climate policy considerations when voting, to inform our ensuing discussions.105 The final speaker was Katie Hodgetts, a campaigner for the UK Youth Climate Coalition and founder of the Resilience Project, which supports young activists as they navigate eco-anxiety
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