Some of Scotland’s youngest climate change protestors have been asked to attend Holyrood.
The Scottish Parliament’s environment committee has invited 12 pupils from across the country who have been involved in school strikes.
They include 13-year-old Holly Gillibrand, from Fort William, 11-year-old Finlay Pringle, from Ullapool, his nine-year-old sister Ella and their friend Megan Ross, also nine.
The pupils have been taking part in hour-long walkouts from school on Fridays after being inspired by 16-year-old Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg.
Her demands for the Swedish government to reduce carbon emissions gained worldwide attention and she inspired thousands of pupils across the world to strike from school.
Finlay said he was excited to be going to the Scottish Parliament, but questioned why politicians had asked pupils.
He said: “I am looking forward to speaking directly to our MSPs about the issues and hopefully they will listen to our ideas and take action.
“But I would ask why are they inviting us? Why are they not inviting some climate change experts who know how to fix it?
“We have raised the awareness for it, but we are not the people who know the answers.”
Holly said: “It is good they are trying to engage with young people who are going on strike, but I think the Scottish Government is not doing enough to stop climate change.
“The Scottish Parliament shouldn’t need to talk to the young people. They should be looking at the solutions and what they need to do.
“I am a bit sceptical because I think they are doing it to make it look as though they are taking us seriously, but if they were taking us seriously they would be acting already.”
The worldwide action follows a UN climate summit in Poland which approved rules for implementing an agreement which aims to keep global warming as close to 1.5C as possible by 2100.
The world is currently on track for 3C of warming by the target date, which scientists says will bring catastrophic extreme weather resulting in mass extinction of animals, the destruction of crops and widespread flooding.
The pupils have been invited to speak to politicians from the committee in a private session on April 2nd as well as having a tour of Holyrood.
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