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Thousands of pupils are set to strike across the UK today to demand action to address climate change.

There are arranged protests all across Devon and Cornwall, which will see schoolchildren and university students walk out of lessons and lectures for three hours.

It is the first UK-wide education protests arranged as part of a national march called Youth Strike 4 Climate, arranged by the UK Student Climate Network, a group of young people motivated by government inaction and determined to highlight the need for positive change to avert climate breakdown.

The strikes are being being held in Plymouth, Truro, St Just, Exeter, Torbay and Bideford.

*Scroll down for live coverage throughout the day.

What is happening where?

Plymouth

There will be a "peaceful protest" held outside the Civic Centre between 10am and 1pm.

The strike in Plymouth has been arranged by Eloise Scaysbrook, 20, a second year student at Plymouth College of Art.

Eloise said that she saw that there were no arranged protests for Plymouth, and decided she would create one.

The event reads: "Silent - Peaceful protest tomorrow, joining the thousands of worldwide school strikes, organised by young people but all ages welcome! Let's make a difference and support not only the gathering in Exeter, but the worldwide strikes led by Greta Thunberg."

*Scroll down for live coverage throughout the day.

Thousands of youngsters will strike over climate change on Friday

Exeter

As part of the national action in Devon, school, college and university students will be ditching the classroom to congregate at Devon County Hall in a display of ‘active citizenship.’

There will be singing, a series of speeches from young people and a range of performances including drama and music. The aim is to raise public awareness that young people are deeply concerned about issues related to climate change.

Sophie Sleeman, a seventeen year old student at Exeter College said:

“We’re swapping the classroom for active citizenship. Without a vote for sixteen-year olds, our generation - like the Earth we are trying to protect - has been silenced. Yet we are left with the inescapable noise that is climate destruction. 

“We hope that by striking, awareness will be raised amongst those in power that the youth of today want action on climate change. We demand that the government declares a state of climate emergency and communicates the severity of the ecological crisis to the general public. Additionally, we want the curriculum reformed so that climate change becomes an educational priority.”

*Scroll down for live coverage throughout the day.

Truro

The Youth Strike 4 Climate demonstration will be held outside New County Hall in Truro between 11am and 2pm on Friday, February 15

The protest in Truro has been organised by young people who will target the Cornwall Council office as the symbol of local government. Their plan is to gather outside the office between 11am and 2pm.

Also in Cornwall, pupils at Cape Cornwall School in St Just, who are unable to travel up to Truro, will hold their own demonstration outside their school’s main entrance.

Truro College student Rosie Smart-Knight, 17, said: “We are demanding that the future of all following generations and species is safeguarded. I refuse to allow my generations’ epitaph to be one of passivity when faced with the greatest threat to life on earth”.

Live updates will be posted in the blog below throughout the day.

Are you taking part in the protests or have a child who is?

Get in touch on 01752 293100.

We were live at Truro earlier today

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Pictures from the protest in Truro

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Footage from the protest

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OPINION: It's time we all declared a climate emergency

It’s 2030. The Dawlish train line no longer exists. There’s been a bus replacement service for seven years while they build the alternative line inland. Mousehole is being rebuilt after a major flood three years ago wiped out half of the second homes around the harbour. And Cardinham Woods is just a blackened shrubland after it was destroyed by fire in 2025.

The planet has heated up so dramatically that we’re on the edge of a series of natural disasters that will change everything.

According to climate scientists, we have just 12 years left before we hit the 1.5C tipping point on climate change if we carry on as we are. Twelve years until low-lying areas are swamped by floods. Twelve years until the mass migration of people trying to avoid those low lying areas has a dramatic impact on all our lives. Twelve years until coral reefs will vanish; ancient trees will die; and extreme weather events will become ever more common.

Twelve years until even idiots like Donald Trump start accepting that global warming is most definitely not a hoax.

The polar bear has become a distressing symbol of climate change
The polar bear has become a distressing symbol of climate change (Image: mirror.co.uk)
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Check out Bude School's protest!

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Whole range of ages turn up to protest

Matthew Faith is at the city centre protest. He says there is a range of ages there supporting the cause - some as young as four.

Protesters in the city centre
Protesters in the city centre (Image: Matthew Faith)
Protesters in the city centre
Protesters in the city centre (Image: Matthew Faith)
Protesters in the city centre
Protesters in the city centre
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There's a group gathering in Plymouth

Protesters by the Civic Centre
Protesters by the Civic Centre (Image: Stuart Abel )
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Older generation should get behind student strike

In a letter to Plymouth Herald, reader Jennifer Nunn said: “I completely support our students who are speaking out and taking direct action. The older generation feel paralysed, are in denial, or think - well I won’t be around that long.

“May we all rise up and Walk Our Talk, even in small ways, walk to the shops, stop buying goods that have to travel half way round the world, eat locally and in season organic where possible. Insulate our homes, wear more clothes and take more exercise to keep warm and healthy.

“Have fun, share, build community. Every Person has the Power to Make a Difference.

“Rise up, support the students, support the continuing beauty and bounty of this exceptional planet.”

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Protesters outside Devon County Hall

Devon, school, college and university students are ditching the classroom to congregate at Devon County Hall in a display of ‘active citizenship’
Devon, school, college and university students are ditching the classroom to congregate at Devon County Hall in a display of ‘active citizenship’ (Image: Daniel Clarke)
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OPINION: Insects need a marketing campaign to save them

Have you noticed how your windscreen is no longer covered in bugs when you go out for a spring drive? Or how leaving your bathroom window open in the height of summer, even with the light on, now results in little more than a solitary moth bumbling in and clinging to the lightbulb?

Once upon a time, before politicians frolicked through fields of wheat, poets would walk through clouds of butterflies while composing their odes to nature. Now the sight of a single cabbage white on a woodland walk has almost become an event. The Common Blue butterfly is anything but, and you’re more likely to see a real dragon than a dragonfly.

Our fundamental dependence upon insects was thrown into sharp focus this week with the publication of the first scientific global review of insects. Printed in the journal Biological Conservation , the review presented evidence that insect numbers are plummeting across the world. More than 40% of species are in decline and the total mass of insects is reducing at a rate of 2.5% a year. If this continues abated, they’ll all be gone in the next century.

It set out its conclusions in pretty forceful terms. Unless we change our ways of producing food, i path of extinction in a few decades. The repercussions this will have for the planet’s ecosystems are catastrophic to say the least.”

Dung beetles need a marketing campaign
Dung beetles need a marketing campaign (Image: Getty Images)
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The kids on strike from school today

Arthur Wright, from Penzance, all geared up for the Youth Strike 4 Climate protest
Arthur Wright, from Penzance, all geared up for the Youth Strike 4 Climate protest (Image: Robert Wright)

Arthur Wright, 7, and his sister Bea, 5, are on strike from Alverton School in Penzance today and on their way to the Youth Strike 4 Climate Protest at County Hall in Truro.

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What schools are taking part in Plymouth?

Plymouth Live contacted other centres across Plymouth, and of them only Plymouth College of Art were aware that some of its pupils would be taking part in the strikes.

Parents of children from Plymouth School of Creative Arts have shared a letter with Plymouth Live, which states that the school will not authorise its pupils to take part in the planned protests due to safeguarding responsibilities.

The letter adds that there will be “specific curriculum activities” to ensure students are able to learn and debate issues around climate change.

However, Plymouth College of Art, which teaches older children and young adults, are supporting their students during the protests.

Matias Shortcook, Associate Dean Pre-Degree at Plymouth College of Art, said: “Plymouth College of Art has a college-wide commitment to social justice and creative learning and as such we support the right for our students to join the international YouthStrike4Climate.

“From September 2019 we’re planning to launch the International Baccalaureate Career-related Programme (IBCP) for 16 to 19-year-olds. This will include the option to study the IB Environmental Systems and Societies diploma, an interdisciplinary course combining science and humanities to study some of the most important issues facing humanity and the natural world in the 21st century.

“This will include biodiversity, sustainability, and climate change, with students investigating how their careers and lifestyles can contribute to sustainable solutions for the future, locally and globally.”

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What Sir David Attenborough says about climate change

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Are you striking today?

If you’re striking today, get in touch via our social media channels.

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Bideford strike details

The strike in Bideford will be held at The Quay between 11am and 2pm.

More details can be found here.

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Torbay climate strike details

The Torbay strike will be held at the Town Hall in Torquay between 9am and 3pm.

More information can be found here.

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Truro strike details

The Truro climate strike will take place at New County Hall.

For more information, click here.

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Exeter strike details

There are around 1,000 people who have shown interest in the Exeter climate strike on the Facebook event.

For more information, click here.

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Plymouth strike details

For more information on the Plymouth climate strike, you can go to the Facebook event here.

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Climate change in numbers

- According to NASA, the Earth’s average surface temperature has risen 1.62F since the late 19th century. Most of the warming was in the past 35 years, with the five warmest years since 2010.

- The Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets have decreased in mass. Greenland lost an average of 281 billion tons of ice per year between 1993 and 2016, while Antarctica lost about 119 billion tons in the same period.

- The rate of Antarctica ice mass loss has tripled in the last decade.

- In the last 100 years, sea levels have risen approx 8 inches.

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What do students want?

The UK Student Climate Network have put together a list of four demands:

1. That the Government declares a climate emergency and prioritises the protection of life on Earth.

2. Reforms to the national curriculum to address the ecological crisis as an educational priority.

3. That the Government informs the public about the need to act on climate change.

4. And that the Government recognises that young people have the biggest stake in our future by lowering the voting age to 16.

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Who has arranged the strikes in the UK and why?

The UK Student Climate Network have coordinated the strikes happening across the UK.

The group said there was “an alarming lack of government leadership on climate action over previous decades”.

Anna Taylor, a national organiser and part of the UK Student Climate Network, said: “We’ve seen the last few decades go by, characterised by missed opportunities, and a lack of leadership on climate action. We’re running out of time for meaningful change, and that’s why we’re seeing young people around the world rising up to hold their governments to account on their dismal climate records.

“Unless we take positive action, the future’s looking bleak for those of us that have grown up in an era defined by climate change. We’ve had enough and we’re making sure our voice is heard. We’re ready to let politicians know we won’t accept anything less than a commitment to protect the planet for the good of everyone.”

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Who is Greta Thunberg?

The strikes happening across the UK today have been inspired by Greta Thunberg.

Greta is a 16-year-old Swedish schoolgirl, who in August last year, decided she would not go to school on a Friday, and instead hold a lone protest outside parliament in Stockholm, over politicians ignoring global warming.

She set out to pressure the Swedish Goverment into passing legislation which would reduce carbon emissions in line with the Paris Agreement.

Her actions inspired young people all over the world and has sparked similar protests on a larger scale.

Greta has also spent the past year addressing world leaders at the COP24 United Nations climate chance summit and the World Economic Forum.

Swedish 15-year old climate activist, Greta Thunberg
Swedish 15-year old climate activist, Greta Thunberg (Image: JANEK SKARZYNSKI/AFP/Getty Images)
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