SCHOOL pupils in Tranent have come together to start a conversation about climate change.

A Big Climate Conversation was held in St Martin’s Church Hall last Friday.

School pupils were the main organisers of the event, marketed as: “What the hell do the kids in Tranent know about climate change?”

The community was welcomed to share their views on how Scotland can respond to the global climate emergency and feedback will be provided to the Scottish Government.

The interactive conversation was led by children and featured games and music encouraging the people of Tranent to think about climate change as a human rights issue which must be addressed.

The children in charge made sure the event was as carbon neutral as possible and even rented reusable plastic plates from Lower Impact Living, East Saltoun, to serve food on.

At the end of the event, they had participants make pledges about what they were personally going to do to help tackle climate change.

The event was organised by volunteers from Ross High School, Pencaitland Primary School, St Martin’s Eco Group, Fa’side Women’s Group and the Children’s Parliament and was sponsored by the Scottish Government’s The Big Climate Conversation Community Fund.

Amy Gossner, 16, from Ross High School, was one of the youngsters key in organising the event and said: “We want everyone to be more aware of climate change.

“I think a lot of people don’t realise how much climate change is going to impact everyone in the future.

“It’s not just happening on TV, it’s happening everywhere in the world and it’s everyone’s responsibility.

“Our aim is to find out what people in the community, especially children, think is the way forward and what they think other people can do to help prevent climate change.”

Claire MacGillivray, a Trustee of the Children’s Parliament, said: “On the back of this event, we will be sending a report to the Scottish Government but I think it’s really about starting the conversation.We have a reason to make the world a better place: for our children. They are taking the lead by showing adults that they want things to change.”

Paul Reynolds, headteacher at Ross High School, said: “I am delighted that our pupils are proactively seeking to raise awareness of these issues and look at ways to make positive changes.

“We also have a group looking at ways to highlight this important issue in school so this is clearly an issue which means a lot to our pupils.”

The Big Climate Conversation Community Fund was launched in August to assist community organisations to host workshops and engage in the climate change debate. It is managed by Impact Funding on behalf of the Scottish Government.

Sixty-two groups have been approved to receive funding so far which project to engage more than 1,500 members of the public in the climate conversation.