Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps the Government is taking to lead by example in their decision-making process on climate change by consulting with children in the UK and overseas to gain their insight as UK policies are developed and reviewed.

The UK COP26 Presidency is committed to amplifying the voices of young people in the UK and across the world leading up to and at COP26. My Rt. Hon. Friend the President for COP26 committed to meeting with young people in every international visit over the last year and has established the COP26 Civil Society and Youth Advisory Council. The UK is committed to COP26 being inclusive and established several advisory groups to guide planning and delivery of COP. This includes youth and civil society advisory groups co-chaired by youth representatives.

At COP26, the UL has hosted a dedicated Youth & Public Empowerment Day to elevate youth voices and demonstrate the critical role of education and empowerment to drive climate action. We worked closely with YOUNGO (the official children’s and youth constituency to the UNFCCC) to co-create the events programme for the day.

As set out in our Net Zero Strategy, we will continue to give people opportunities to participate in and shape our plans for reaching net zero.