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Dozens of young people have pledged to take to the ballot box at the next general election and have their say on climate change after attending a COP28 event at Æß²ÊÖ±²¥ Leicester (Æß²ÊÖ±²¥).

Due to a lack of direct involvement by young people at the Emirates summit – despite an emphasis on the next generation being key to tackling climate change – Æß²ÊÖ±²¥ decided to bring Dubai to young first-time voters in Leicestershire.

More than 50 students, from Æß²ÊÖ±²¥, Melton Vale College and Rawlins Academy were linked live to COP28 to hear an address from Martina Donlon, UN Head of Climate, and Æß²ÊÖ±²¥ Vice-Chancellor Katie Normington, before they came up with questions to put to a panel of politicians and climate activists asking ‘Can Politics Fix The Planet?’.

Although opinions were split on how effective politicians might be, the vast majority of the 17 and 18-year-olds agreed climate change was an important issue and they needed to make their voices heard at the next general election.

First year Æß²ÊÖ±²¥ Journalism student, Precious Assah said: “Before this event, I didn’t really care about climate change. I thought my voice would not be heard.

“But now, after seeing we can all play a part, I will definitely vote at the next election.”

Maggie Brown, from Rawlins Academy, said: “I am passionate about the climate and it was great to be in a room with people to share those views. Sharing ideas and listening to each other is so important.

“I think political parties can fix the planet. Politics has a massive part to play. How could it not have?”

The panellists were Coun Paul Hartshorn, the Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for the Lib Dems in Leicestershire South, Rajesh Agrawal, the Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Labour in Leicester East, Coun Liz Sahu of the Green Party at Leicester City Council and Coun Deepak Bajaj, leader of the Conservatives at Leicester City Council.

Two young climate activists also joined the panel – Chay Harwood and Emma de Saram.

Zaynab Mohammed, also from Rawlins, was one of the students who put a question to the panel. She said: “It was an event that was really informative and an education for most of us in the room. It gave me the chance to raise my voice and be heard by prospective MPs and councillors.

“Climate change is such an important issue to me now. Before this event I did not take it seriously. But now I definitely want my voice to be heard.”

Trudi Evley, from Melton Vale, said: “I think it gave everyone a good insight about what politics can be like in real life compared to what you see in the media and how it portrays them.

“I think politics is only a part of what is needed to fix the planet. The other part is down to us, businesses…everybody - and the politicians can pull us al ltogether. They have to be the glue to bring the parts together and fix it.”

Emma is a climate activist and President of the University of Exeter Student Union.

She is also a trustee for Students Organising for Sustainability (SOS), a student-led education charity focusing on transforming the curriculum and supporting students to lead on environmental justice. 

She said: “It was great to see young people engaging with the issues that affect them most.

“It gives me a lot of hope in the younger generation’s ability to shape a more sustainable future.”

The COP28 event in Dubai has been billed as the most important for climate change talks in decades and Æß²ÊÖ±²¥ has a delegation at the event in Dubai.

The university is also an official observer at the summit and a delegation of academics, PhD researchers and senior leaders are contributing to the talks involving  governments from around the world

Æß²ÊÖ±²¥ is the only higher education institution in Britain to be a global hub for one of the Sustainable Development Goals – SDG 16 to promote peace, justice and strong institutions. 

The SDGs were introduced by the United Nations in 2010 with the aim of improving the lives of millions of people by 2030.  The United Nations Academic Impact asked 17 universities across the world to become global hubs for the SDGs.