Scottish Youth Climate Strike calls for climate action in Falcon Square protest
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A TRIO of environmental protesters marked the fifth anniversary of the Paris climate agreement in Inverness at the weekend.
The members of Scottish Youth Climate Strike were supported by Extinction Rebellion for the rally at Falcon Square, where they unfurled a 15ft long banner declaring “Climate Emergency” as they called on the government do more to tackle world temperature rises.
May Armstrong (17) was one of those who took part.
“Scottish Youth Climate Strike’s event was a response to the lack of urgency the British government has had to tackle the climate crisis and to push for Britain to fight for 1.5C of warming above pre-industrial levels,” she said. “The Paris Agreement was signed in April 2016. It aims to keep global temperature rise this century well below 2C and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5C. This is done through nationally determined contributions (NDCs).”
She said that a 10-point climate change plan unveiled by Prime Minister Boris Johnson on December 4 does not go far enough.
“An analysis by economics consultancy Cambridge Econometrics suggests Mr Johnson’s 10-point plan, which will form a significant part of the country’s NDC, will only reduce emissions by 59 per cent by 2030, based on 1990 levels,” she said.
“It says they should really fall by 70 per cent by that date.
“The initial round of NDCs announced at the Paris Agreement signing in 2015 was insufficient to fulfil the agreement’s goal of reducing global temperature rise to below 2C. The UN Environment Programme has said we are on track for a temperature rise of over three degrees.
“This would bring mass extinctions and make large parts of the planet uninhabitable”.
