Blackpool students tell world leaders 'eyes of the world' are watching'

Image: Christine Smith /St Mary's Catholic Academy

Pupils from St Mary's Catholic Academy are calling on world leaders to tackle the climate crisis and ensure those worst affected are put at the heart of this year's climate talks.

In a stunt outside of the Blackpool Tower on Tuesday 28th September pupils from St Mary's Catholic Academy held a banner reminding the government that "the 'Eyes of the World' are watching" ahead of the UK hosting world leaders the UN climate conference 'COP26' in Glasgow this November.

A year 8 pupil from the secondary school in Blackpool shared what inspired her to get involved in the campaign, run by Catholic Aid charity CAFOD: "You might, or might not have heard of her, but Greta Thunberg really inspires me. When I was in year 3, Miss put on a video about climate change and Greta Thunberg was shouting at the world leaders, saying 'how dare they not act in this situation, and that it's our world so we should act, but they are not doing anything about it.'"

Expressing the importance of young people being at the forefront of this campaign, another Year 8 pupil added: "Young people should get involved because we are the future, and we have the power to fight against climate change. We should continue to think about what we can do to make a difference."

The 'Eyes of the World' banner first made an appearance on the opening day of the G7 summit in Cornwall in June.

Accompanied by a massive art installation, created by pupils from St Mary's primary school in Falmouth, over 12,000 young people have now joined CAFOD's campaign, urging world leaders to take action on issues like the climate crisis.

Over the next two months, the banner will travel to the remaining landmarks across the UK - including Blackpool Tower, York Gateshead and Edinburgh - reaching its final destination in Glasgow at 'COP26' in November.

Miss Christine Smith, Chaplaincy Team Leader, said: "It's important that young people are at the center of this campaign because they are the future. The climate crisis is an issue that is important to them- something they are passionate about- and it's something that we need to listen to them about.

"For generations, we have been ignoring this problem, and we can't ignore it any longer and leave it for future generations to fix. We need to act now."

Charity CAFOD, who has coordinated the journey of the banner, hopes that over the coming months, thousands more young people will get involved in the 'Eyes of the World' campaign.

Emma Nolan, CAFOD's representative for the Blackpool region, concluded: "We would like to say a huge thank you to the pupils of St Mary's Catholic Academy and to every young person who has already taken part in the 'Eyes of the World' campaign - your actions will make a huge difference to those living with poverty and injustice.

"We know that young people really care about reaching out to people around the world. They are the ones demanding change and we need to give them a stage to raise their voices.

"In the run-up to COP26, I hope that the UK government does listen to the voices of young people and the Catholic community and takes seriously their duty to look out for global communities already impacted by the climate emergency."

CAFOD is the official aid agency of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, and part of Caritas International. See: https://cafod.org.uk/

See also: What is COP26 and why is it important to Catholics: - www.indcatholicnews.com/news/42979