CHILDREN and teenagers will be asked to find 'city-wide' solutions to climate change in Oxford.

The youngsters are being invited to join a special summit being organised by Oxford City Council.

They are even being asked to help organise the event themselves.

Read also: PC Andrew Harper's widow says she is 'immensely disappointed' at his killers' verdicts

Deputy council leader Tom Hayes said: "Climate breakdown can feel big, global, and overwhelming.

"The young people who will be most affected by our climate crisis can particularly feel disempowered.

Oxford Mail:

"We want Oxford’s younger citizens to take matters into their own hands, tell us how they want us to run their summit, and use the summit to share ideas and come up with fixes."

The Youth Climate Summit will likely be held in November, and is part of the commitments the city council made after it held a citizens’ assembly on climate change last year.

Because of the pandemic the event will take place 'virtually' over the internet.

Read also: Police given more time to question 15-year-old boy on suspicion of murder

In a statement on the summit, the council said its aim was to invite young people to ‘engage in discussion about their future, identify actions young people themselves can take, and look at how they can use their influence to find city-wide solutions to the global climate emergency’ here in Oxford.

Mr Hayes added: "The focus will not simply be on young people from Oxford.

"We want to unite young people in Oxford and countries affected by the climate crisis.

Oxford Mail:

"We want Oxford’s younger people to feel more confident having climate conversations with older generations and asking for urgent action which protects them from the brunt of a changing climate."

The council has tasked its Youth Ambition Team to find a way to involve people who are not usually interested in discussions around climate change, as well as those who are.

Read again about the huge Climate Crisis demonstration which took place in Oxford last year

The summit has been welcomed by young climate change protesters in Oxford, and the city’s branch of the UK Student Climate Network issued a statement on it.

The statement said: “The climate crisis is an international, intersectional, and terrifying issue.

"We welcome any attempt to work with those most affected by the climate crisis and to make Oxford a greener place.”

Oxford Mail:

The November date of the summit would have coincided with a UN meeting to negotiate future measures to combat climate change called COP 26.

This meeting has been postponed because of the pandemic.

The Youth Climate Summit is being held digitally to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, but the city council said this will mean greenhouse gas emissions are kept to an 'absolute minimum'.