Year 10 Wagga High School student Eleanor Waters-Jones is 'channeling' the rage inside of her to deliver an important message to politicians to 'not play games when it comes to climate change'.
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Miss Waters-Jones said climate change has had an astronomical effect on her family's financial and mental state- a situation which she believes could have been avoided had our government taken action.
"I'm absolutely horrified by the negligence and the lack of accountability by the Australian government," Miss Waters-Jones said.
"I want to see a 2040 federal net zero emissions target, at least.
"I understand that a 15-year old telling government to do better may annoy some people, but I would argue that there is a reason we're having to do this. If you look at the statistics and listen to the experts, this situation is very evidently not normal. Drastic times call for drastic measures, and it is our world too."
Miss Waters-Jones was one of eight students to share her message to a worldwide audience as part of the UN Climate Change conference COP26 through the Global Citizens Organisation.
The 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference referred to as COP26, is the 26th United Nations Climate Change conference, held annually at the SEC Centre in Glasgow.
The conference consists of panels run by scientists and experts who, this year, have declared the state of the climate 'Code Red'- which identifies as a state of emergency.
One of the actions environmentalists and advocates are calling for is the reduction of emissions.
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"The main message I hope to put out there is that the issue of climate change is a very real, immediate one, and politicians should not be playing games when it could be so easy to address this," Miss Waters-Jones said.
"Unfortunately, young people have no choice but to be implicated in this fight, because we are not seeing the action we need, especially from the people in power.
"We will be inheriting this Earth, and, as drastic as it sounds, our future is being dimmed with the continuing battle surrounding climate change.
"I'm passionate about this because of my frustration with the lack of any action on this issue in the federal government.
"However, what motivated me to be a more active voice on climate change was when the Dunn's Road fire ripped through our farm near Batlow in the Black Summer bushfires. We lost native species, as well as our cattle and orchard, and the anger I felt from this experience I channeled into making myself heard."
And Miss Waters-Jones won't stop here, as she is determined to continue 'drawing attention to the issue' which she believes is 'one of, if not the most critical issues of the next decade.'
"At the end of the day, it is ridiculous that in Australia we are prioritising unsustainable methods of power generation over protecting the planet we all live on. Enough is enough."
Miss Waters-Jones said the support she has been receiving as a climate change activist has been 'overwhelmingly positive' despite some people having voiced their opinion that a 'child cannot speak with any authority on the issue'.
Those sorts of comments will not silence the youth.
"Most Australians do want to see action on climate change, as more and more of us are sadly being impacted by it each year. There are those, definitely, who still believe Australia should be stuck in the past and make this topic a controversial one when it really doesn't need to be," she said.
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