YOUNG Scottish climate activists are backing the Fridays for Future movement by taking part in a global climate strike today.
They will gather outside the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh from 11am until 2pm.
Those taking part say they will strike because the outcomes of the UN climate talks in Madrid (COP25) are not only insufficient, but also a “painful image of how little politicians care about the planet and about people living with the daily reality of climate change”.
Strikers say they are standing in solidarity with people who are already suffering from the impacts of the climate emergency.
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On Wednesday, scores of activists who were protesting at the talks were removed by security personnel. The protesters say they had their badges taken and were threatened with expulsion from the rest of the talks. After extensive negotiations, they were permitted to return yesterday.
Dylan Hamilton, 15 from Linlithgow, West Lothian, who is a member of Scottish Youth Climate Strikes was inside the UN talks and witnessed the protests.
He said: “There was a peaceful protest involving about 200 of us, outside the main negotiating hall, demanding that rich nations step up and pay up for the damage caused by climate change. The protest by people from across the world was led by women, indigenous groups and those who are living on the frontline of climate impacts every day.
“The United Nations security kettled the group, with people being shoved, bullied and touched without their consent. People were crying and worried and forced outside the building. I was filming the security’s overreaction and they threatened to de-badge me which meant I would no longer be allowed into the talks.”
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Hamilton went on: “The hugely disproportionate security reaction was in stark contrast to a peaceful protest earlier that day by young, predominantly white protesters, with Greta Thunberg in attendance. This was permitted without any of the violence from security. Why was one protest permitted and another suppressed?”
Sandy Boyd, 15, from Edinburgh, who is also a member of Scottish Youth Climate Strikes, said: “This year has seen the biggest climate protests in history but the politicians still aren’t listening.
“The outcomes of this year’s negotiations in Madrid will not be enough. They have been postponing action and kicking out those who call them out on their failures. These talks about my future have been going on all my life, yet they have very little action to show for them.
“Young people will be protesting on Friday, as many of us have done for over a year, to demand climate justice and urgent action that brings down emissions. We will no longer accept empty words from governments and polluters. We need leaders that listen to the people and act accordingly.”
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