Pupil Power Roadshow: Bringing the youth voice to COP26

Amid calls from Greta Thunberg among others to more meaningfully involve young people at COP26, the Pupil Power Roadshow funded by a Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) Outreach grant brought the youth voice to the historic climate summit.

By Dr Anna Hands, Director, PPL PWR

Over 50 school students from the youth-led UK Schools Sustainability Network (UKSSN) engaged with decision-makers and the public at COP26 in Glasgow and beyond about sustainability-related topics, including the chemistry behind hydrogen fuel cells and energy storage.

To prepare for the climate summit, students received training from volunteers and chemical engineering PhD students from the public engagement organisations, PPL PWR and UCell. Topics included hydrogen fuel cells, sustainable personal finance, green spaces, and climate anxiety. Student’s questions and reflections during the sessions fed into PPL PWR’s panel discussion in the COP26 Green Zone and a short documentary about the value of local green spaces.

Armed with this knowledge, UKSSN school students engaged hundreds of people of all ages with tabletop technology demonstrations at their stalls in the COP26 Green Zone. Visitors included delegates from Nigeria, Kenya and Nepal and Alok Sharma, President of COP26.

While in Glasgow, UKSSN students also appeared on high-profile panel discussions in the COP26 Blue Zone, on local and national radio and TV, including Good Morning Britain. They had meetings with the Secretary of State for Education, the Secretary of State for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, and representatives from the United Nations, the National Education Union and more. Among other things, the students lobbied for improved climate education in schools and about youth climate anxiety. All while dressed in a walking youth art gallery of t-shirts designed by students across the UK.

While their peers were in Glasgow, over 30 more UKSSN students across the country were taking part in online events from home, organising assemblies and mock COPs in their schools, and engaging people virtually via the official Digital COP26 Green Zone.

At all times, the students were mature, compassionate, and eloquent - a true inspiration to work alongside. They tell us the experience has given them more hope for their futures, more confidence speaking in public, and an appreciation for the importance of chemistry in fighting climate change. Strong relationships have been forged among the students along with a determination to inspire their peers going forward.

At all times, the students were mature, compassionate, and eloquent - a true inspiration to work alongside. They tell us the experience has given them more hope for their futures, more confidence speaking in public, and an appreciation for the importance of chemistry in fighting climate change. Strong relationships have been forged among the students along with a determination to inspire their peers going forward.

The UKSSN are now seen as the 'go-to' group for schools voice by the UK Government. Indeed, UKSSN staff and students have already been invited to consult on the Department for Education’s draft Sustainability and Climate Change Strategy. 

The RSC Outreach fund allowed this project to have a larger impact than the project organisers could have dreamed when we first set out to bring the youth voice to COP26. We are proud to have the Pupil Power Roadshow supported by an organisation with a target to achieve net zero by 2040 and an ambition to both reduce the carbon footprint of chemistry in research and industry more widely and to use chemistry to find solutions to global challenges like the climate crisis.

With particular thanks to Dr Jess Tipton, the other teachers in the UKSSN, my colleagues in the PPL PWR team and our partner organisations, including UCell, Planetary International, the Climate Psychology Alliance, Share Action, and Global Action Plan UK.