'Please take action': Cumbria's Youth Climate Summit hand findings to authorities

Hannah Wright, from Kendal, is 17. In her own words, she is "representing young people from around Cumbria in the fight against the climate emergency."

Wright co-hosted Cumbria's Youth Climate Summit last month, working with youngsters around the county - which led to the findings submitted in Kendal on the same day (5 November) that the focus was on young people at COP26 in Glasgow.

But her journey to climate activism started 5000 miles away in very different climes.

Hannah said: "I used to live in Malawi in Africa so I witnessed a lot of the impacts and causes of climate change. So there was lots of flash flooding, deforestation, so that drove me to make a difference for the climate."

Hannah spent time living in Malawi, influencing her passion for the environment

With flooding fresh in Cumbrian minds after persistent rainfall recently, young people are keener than ever to tackle the deep-rooted issue of climate change.

That includes some of the youngest minds. One of the letters in the report is from a 10 year old to world leaders.

It simply says: 'the climate is changing, it has been happening for years' and 'please take action sooner rather than later.'

The letter from a 10-year-old to world leaders

The document goes on to suggest what that action could be.

The leaders at COP26 may have access to a lot more money than Hannah. But activism increasingly seems to be falling on younger shoulders, like Swedish activist Greta Thunberg and Cumbrian Amy Bray. Hannah has mixed feelings about the onus being on her generation.



She said: "It puts quite a lot of pressure on young people. The effects are coming in now and that's going to affect our generation more so we should probably be the ones advocating for change more.

"It's hard because we're not the people with power. The people with power are the ones that have to make the decisions." 

Hannah Wright and the findings from the Youth Summit

Decisions are being made in Glasgow, but what follows will determine whether it makes a difference.

So what does Hannah want to see happen next?

"Probably for people to take responsibility for what they've caused.

It is an emergency that it seems our young people simply won't let pass them by.


Read more: