Environment campaigners call on Assembly to make climate science mandatory in schools

By Q Radio News

Environmental charity, Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful (KNIB) will be setting out its stall today at the COP26 global climate conference in Glasgow.

KNIB, which runs the popular Eco Schools and Live Here Love Here programs across Northern Ireland and is well known for its work on tackling litter and plastic pollution.

It will use the opportunity to call on the NI Assembly to not only make climate change education an essential component of the Northern Ireland curriculum, but to ensure that members of the NI Assembly also undertake the training themselves.

The charity has also handed its social media feed over to its youth ambassadors for part of the week as part of its efforts to amplify the voices of young people.

Environmental charity, Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful (KNIB) will be setting out its stall today at the COP26 global climate conference in Glasgow.https://t.co/MUPVc2QZhk

— Q Radio News (@qnewsdesk) November 10, 2021

Chief Executive of Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful, Ian Humphreys, said.

"What’s become apparent during the last few months, and indeed the COP26 conference itself, is that most of the old, frustrating debate around the existence and causes of climate change has thankfully now gone.

"Too much time was wasted debating what was staring us in the face.

"The science has been accepted and we need to take urgent steps to speed up our transition to a zero-carbon future.

"One of the first things we can do is to make sure that everyone understands the issue and what it’s going to mean for their lives. 

"And we need to start with young people who have told us that they want and need this important topic included in their schooling. 

"We also think that the NI Assembly should be setting an example by ensuring that our public representatives and key decision makers have completed accredited training too."

(Dr Ian Humphreys)

Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful will also be helping to make sure that the voices of Northern Ireland’s young people are represented at COP26. 

The charity has been collaborating on a youth campaign, #OurFutureOurVoice, which has enabled young environmental activists to champion issues around transport and travel planning, including calling for better access to affordable public transport and the inclusion of biodiversity recovery in transport planning.

Youth climate activist and Global Action Plan ambassador, Emer Rafferty, who is collaborating with Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful at the COP26 conference said.

"Young people are on the move. We are driven, determined and decisive in what we want: action. 

"I am so thankful for organisations like KNIB who truly care for the future of young people and for wildlife in Northern Ireland. 

"Environmental education is crucial to the long-term understanding and appreciation of our planet, wildlife and natural world. 

"I am hopeful for the future, despite what has happened in the past and what is still happening in the present. 

"Let’s move the power to the people and together, we will give those to come a better way of life - the basic human right to a healthy planet."

Find out more about Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful at: https://www.keepnorthernirelandbeautiful.org/

(Global Action Plan ambassadors Emer Rafferty and Rosalind Skillen)