NICOLA Sturgeon has pledged to work with the Scottish Youth Parliament to tackle the climate crisis and “embed the voice of youth in everything we do”.
The First Minister made the commitment at an event to launch the Global Youth Statement, a set of demands from young people around the world outlining what they expect of leaders at the summit.
The statement came from the Conference of Youth (COY), which the Scottish Government funded ahead of COP26.
The First Minister said that she “didn’t hear a single thing” that she disagreed with during the group's presentation in the Action Zone at the Hydro on Friday morning.
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The COY statement set out a list of demands to negotiators which includes a focus on climate justice for those most affected, a concrete plan to move away from fossil fuels, and to abide by their $100 billion finance pledge to developing countries, amongst many others.
Sturgeon, alongside COP26 President Alok Sharma and UNFCCC Executive Secretary Patricia Espinosa, were presented with hard copies of the statement and asked to set out how they will help bring the policies forward.
One thing Scotland will do going forward, Sturgeon said, is to work with the Youth Parliament to put the voice of youth “centre stage” in tackling the climate crisis.
She said: “I’m very proud that the Scottish Government has helped to support COY16 here and I want to commit today to working with our Scottish Youth Parliament here.
Nicola Sturgeon made the pledge at the event on Friday
“I can’t imagine any of them ever allowing them to write my speech incidentally, but we have a vibrant youth voice in Scotland.
“I want to work with them to establish here a Scottish COY approach so we can embed the voice of youth in everything we do.”
Another commitment the First Minister discussed was the transition away from oil and gas into renewable energy.
She added: “There’s no excuse, we have an abundance of renewable energy potential, we must make sure that we fully utilise that.”
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Sturgeon also added that she would focus on climate justice and pushing for accountability on the outcome of COP26.
She said: “We don’t know exactly what the conclusions what the summit will be.
"I hope and I’m encouraged by the progress that appears to be being made, but whatever comes out of this there must be accountability for the delivery of the commitments and the closing the gap that will inevitably still exist between what needs to be done to limit global warming to 1.5C and what has been committed to.
“The days of having countries only under an obligation to update their NDC’s every five years I think are over, I think there is a need for greater accountability.”
The leaders were presented with hard copies of the statement
COP26 President Alok Sharma said: “I think what you have put together here as a statement is absolutely remarkable and I was at an event a few days ago, a very emotional event, and I understand the tension, the energy and the anger that young people feel, despite that you have worked.
“6000 hours I was told went into this document getting views from young people across the world. That is remarkable.”
We previously told how the Scottish Government funded COY16 after the UK Government decided not to.
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