Young to set the agenda on climate change with COP26 youth summit

The Scottish Government is to fund a special conference for children and young people linked to the global COP26 summit in Glasgow, Nicola Sturgeon has announced.

The first minister said her administration would pay for the staging of the Conference of Youth event at the end of October – adding that she could not allow youngsters to be “silenced” on the key issue of climate change.

Prior to this she said the event had “always been funded by the government of the UN member state hosting Cop”.

And while the UK is the host nation for this year’s delayed summit, Ms Sturgeon said: “I don’t know why the UK Government has decided not to fund it – and it doesn’t actually really matter.

“But I do know that we cannot allow the world’s children and young people to be silenced in Glasgow on an issue so vital to their future.”

Speaking at the SNP national conference, Ms Sturgeon said the Conference of Youth would bring together young people from 140 countries around the world “specifically mandated by the UN to set out their asks of world leaders”.

Five young people from Scotland will be selected to represent the country as delegates and contribute to a statement to be produced at the end of the four-day event.

Ms Sturgeon confirmed: “Young people from Scotland will be invited to participate, and they will join with young people from across the globe to present their demands to the world’s leaders in the opening weekend of COP.”

The event will take place from October 28 to 31.

Activist Greta Thunberg has mobilised youth protests.