Editor: Youngsters put PM on spot over tackling climate change

The event, in Downing Street yesterday, was held in advance of the UN Climate Conference, COP26, which starts in Glasgow on Sunday night.

Schoolchildren from around the UK were invited to put their hopes and fears for the climate in a nationwide appeal by this newspaper and our associated website website.

We were inundated with suggestions from children eager to make their point and not convinced that Mr Johnson is as passionate about protecting the plant as they felt themselves.

The passionate discussion saw teenagers from over the country take part and make sure they got clear answers from the country’s top politician.

Scottish schoolboy Lucas wanted to know whether world leaders would listen to them at OP26, when they gather in his country next month.The Prime Minister admitted it was “touch and go” whether world leaders would commit to the actions the Earth needs.

But he was hopeful: “There’s a lot of peer pressure at the summit and I think that people feel that they want to follow the example of their friends and their neighbours, and that will have a good effect on the outcome, I hope.”Olivia Devaney from County Down joined the Downing Street press conference live via video link.

She wanted to know what Boris Johnson could do to protect marine life from plastic getting into the ocean.He said that recycling wasn’t the answer because it “didn’t begin to address the problem"."You can only recycle plastic a couple of times," he said.

"And what you’ve got to do is stop the production of plastic, stop the first use of plastic.”

Other young questioners asked why the UK is not treating the climate as an emergency in the same way as the Covid pandemic and how children could be encouraged to eat less meat.

See the First news page in The Star for more from the Prime Minister’s Downing Street press conference with children, and how he reacted to their questions.