Back to school for Boris
Greenhouse
On the day that GCSE students up and down the country receive their results, a young climate activist has enrolled Prime Minister Boris Johnson on a Geography GSCE – to teach him about climate change.
A new film unveiled today by the UK Student Climate Network (UKSCN) sees 12-year-old Nico McCrimmon from Bristol encouraging Boris to get up to speed ahead of the global climate strike on 20 September.
Nico references a statement Boris made in The Telegraph in December 2015, shortly after the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP21), when he described the landmark Paris Agreement as being “driven by a primitive fear…without foundation”.
New research from UKSCN found that almost three-quarters (71%) of young people are concerned about the poor voting record of prominent cabinet ministers on climate change, and 8 in 10 (80%) believe the government cares more about delivering Brexit than combating climate change.
To reinforce the message to Boris, a group of young people aged 14-17 delivered the GCSE application form and associated revision guides to 10 Downing Street in person earlier today.
One of the UKSCN ambassadors at Downing Street, Cyrus Jarvis, aged 16, commented:
“Thousands of people from my generation have been striking every month since February to pressure the government into taking the necessary action we need to tackle the climate crisis.
“Boris Johnson’s voting record shows that he may not have the knowledge needed and so I’m here to give him a chance to look at the science and be brave enough to make the radical changes we urgently need.”
UKSCN, which organises the Youth Strike 4 Climate events, is a movement led by and for students, who have been forced to take direct action to fight for a future that they believe has been stolen as a direct consequence of the actions of previous generations.
Their next action will be a series of community climate assemblies in cities across the UK starting in Manchester next Tuesday, 27 August, to garner support for a Green New Deal. To find out more and attend a climate assembly near you, visit Eventbrite.
Greenhouse is very proud to be supporting UKSCN in their efforts to mobilise unprecedented numbers of people to demand bold, radical and urgent action on the climate crisis. Join us at the global climate strike on 20 September and make your voice heard.
