Guernsey Press

Students invite deputies to climate change meeting

GUERNSEY students will discuss action on climate change with deputies at the YouthAction4ClimateGSY event.

Published
The students who have organised the YouthAction4ClimateChangeGSY event on 15 March. Left to right: Ethan Falla, 17, Chris Black, 17, James Cleal, 17, Ivy Botzenhardt, 16 and Emily Evans, 17. (Picture by Peter Frankland, 24021968)

The main aim of the initiative is to make Guernsey carbon neutral by 2030 and follows in the wake of students around the world striking for more to be done.

It is open to all Guernsey students and will be held at the Grammar School and Sixth Form Centre on 15 March at 12.45pm.

Year 12 students Ivy Botzenhardt, 16, Emily Evans, 17, Ethan Falla, 17, and Chris Black, 17 are all concerned by climate change.

‘We are all excited to make an impact and show we are interested in making a difference and making sure our opinions are heard,’ said Emily.

Ethan said Sixth Form students were conscious of the environment and that they had recently got food bins in the refectory.

The event stemmed from siblings James, 17, and Charlotte,16, Cleal, who are in Years 12 and 11 respectively..

James said he and his sister were inspired last month by climate change protests at UK schools.

‘For a while now we have felt very frustrated which is why we set up our own Guernsey contingent,’ said James.

However he said that with Guernsey’s record of listening to its youth, they thought that inviting deputies to discuss climate change with them would be better than a strike.

‘It’s been outstandingly positive, already 10 deputies have said they will come,’ said James, less than 24 hours after he had sent an invitation to each one.

They hope the event will be held in the hall and all passionate youth are invited to join. The chosen date is in line with global strike action.

‘The time was originally scheduled for 11am but we wanted to make it as accessible as possible,’ said James, particularly as some students at Les Beaucamps had mock exams on at the original start time.

‘We were pretty surprised by the speed at which [the idea] managed to snowball.

'The Facebook event received quite a lot of attention and I think the teachers overheard.

'Mr James and the teaching staff have been really supportive,’ said James.

It will be a youth-led event and James said they wanted to avoid having teachers on the stage.

Charlotte said that they hoped the United Kingdom Student Climate Network, which they have been in contact with, could use Guernsey as an example of how a society can become carbon neutral if they are given a target and listen to youth.

Grammar School head teacher Kieran James said that although it is to be held at the site, it has not been organised by the school.

‘All I’m doing is giving them school facilities and any support they need in raising their concerns in a democratic way,’ he said.

He said all island head teachers were aware of the event and as nobody had yet raised any concerns, appeared to be broadly supportive.

‘The students feel they can make a positive change in the world and our job is to make sure they do it in the right way.

'I’m passionate about the environment and there’s so much we can do on the island to reduce Guernsey’s emissions and encourage a healthier environment and a healthier lifestyle,’ he said.

Mr James said the event could be really important for those further afield to see what students can achieve.