Just one year ago, a young girl sat alone outside the Swedish Parliament with a hand-painted sign that said school strike for climate.

I couldn’t read that sign and I didn’t know who she was then but soon the whole world would know her name – Greta Thunberg. Her brave actions have inspired me, and millions of people, to stand together and say time is running out for the planet and our future.

 On Friday I joined the thousands of young people and adults who marched across Scotland as part of the Global Climate Strike, the beginning of a week of action.

We are united with millions of people around the world. We are united over our fear and uncertainty about our future. We refuse to sit back and watch while our politicians deprive us of our rights and throw away our future. We are striking because we feel excluded from our democratic decision-making process.

People who say we are too young to know what we are doing or understand climate science are missing the point. I have learned so much more about climate change and the environment from participating in the Fridays for Future strikes – more than I learned in the classroom.

And young people do have the right to be listened to and taken seriously. Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child says that children and young people have the human right to have opinions and for these opinions to matter. No matter how young or old you are, you have the right to peacefully protest and have your voice heard.

Everyone is welcome to strike with us, especially as we are all facing the consequences of our collective inaction.

Last week, climate change activist Greta Thunberg and the Fridays for Future movement of schoolchildren were honoured with Amnesty International’s Ambassador of Conscience Award for 2019, the human rights organisation’s highest award for campaigners working to make the world a better place.

READ MORE: UN report to warn of dangers to ocean due to climate change 

In her acceptance speech, Greta said the award is for all of the millions of young people around the world, fearless youth, fighting for their future. A future they should be able to take for granted.

I am one of those young people, and was surprised and thrilled to be named Amnesty International UK Ambassador of Conscience for my climate change campaigning but it’s not just about me or my fellow Ambassador of 
Conscience Mèabh Mackenzie, it’s about all of us – we are all responsible for taking action to address the climate catastrophe.

Today, the UN Climate Action Summit begins in New York, when political, business and civil society leaders are expected to announce ambitious plans to tackle the climate emergency.

The failure of most governments to act in the face of overwhelming scientific evidence may be the biggest human rights violation in history. The science is clear: we have less than 12 years to prevent irreversible, catastrophic changes to our planet – this is a struggle for our very survival.

We are currently facing a future that could see billions of people around the world displaced – left without a home or even the most basic living conditions making areas of the world uninhabitable for humans.

The fact that this will create huge conflict and unspoken suffering is far from a secret. 

Millions of people are already suffering from the terrifying effects of extreme weather – from prolonged drought in sub-Saharan Africa to devastating tropical storms sweeping across South-east Asia and the Caribbean. Science suggests this will only get worse unless urgent action to slash emissions happens now.
Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person. Directly and indirectly, climate change will actually affect our chances of life.

READ MORE: We Stand Together: Thousands gather worldwide to demand climate change action 

Between the years of 2030 and 2050 there are expected to be between 250,000 deaths directly related to the consequences of climate change.

Many other rights such as the right to health, right to food, to adequate housing and water will all be affected directly by the climate crisis.

Less directly, our right to education may be disrupted. So we ask, why is our education so important that we should not miss a day or an hour of school, but our careless actions that will impede the education of future generations are acceptable? But these harsh consequences of our actions aren’t just expected in the future.

Many people are already suffering the loss of their homes, property, loved ones, and life. I ask global leaders how many people they will sit back and watch suffer before they act.

Make no mistake, we made this crisis worse, our actions have negatively impacted on the climate but we can change our way of living; we can make everyday changes such as buying second hand and recycling clothes, focusing on a plant-based diet, using sustainable travel methods, and keep pressuring the people in power to make change.

I ask our governments one more time. Stop acting with ignorance, start taking the science seriously, introduce legislation to protect our environment and put the rights of people and future generations before profit and party political gain. There are no human rights on a dead planet.