UK Student Climate Network (UKSCN) was a student-led

climate justice Climate justice is a type of environmental justice that focuses on the unequal impacts of climate change on marginalized or otherwise vulnerable populations. Climate justice seeks to achieve an equitable distribution of both the burdens of clima ...

organisation operating in England and Wales founded by Anna Taylor, then aged 17, on 1 December 2018, along with Ivi Hohmann and Daniela Torres Perez. It disbanded in 2020, with only a few members left who acted as caretakers for the organisation’s remaining funds, before finally dissolving in 2023. UKSCN were a group of mainly under 18s who called for strikes from school since February 2019, as part of the Youth Strike 4 Climate movement, with the ambition of getting the

Government of the United Kingdom His Majesty's Government, abbreviated to HM Government or otherwise UK Government, is the central government, central executive authority of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

and the

Welsh Government The Welsh Government ( ) is the Executive (government), executive arm of the Welsh devolution, devolved government of Wales. The government consists of Cabinet secretary, cabinet secretaries and Minister of State, ministers. It is led by the F ...

to take action on the

climate crisis ''Climate crisis'' is a term that is used to describe global warming and climate change and their effects. This term and the term ''climate emergency'' have been used to emphasize the threat of global warming to Earth's natural environment an ...

by fulfilling their demands. Their strikes have seen thousands of students across

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

, with Fridays For Future Scotland, and Youth Climate Association Northern Ireland organising youth climate strikes in

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, and

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

respectively, leave or not go to school on Fridays.

Demands

The network had four demands:

DEMAND 1-SAVE THE FUTURE The Government is to declare a climate emergency and implement a
Green New Deal The Green New Deal (GND) calls for public policy to address climate change, along with achieving other social aims like job creation, economic growth, and reducing economic inequality. The name refers to the New Deal, a set of changes and ...
to achieve
Climate Justice Climate justice is a type of environmental justice that focuses on the unequal impacts of climate change on marginalized or otherwise vulnerable populations. Climate justice seeks to achieve an equitable distribution of both the burdens of clima ...
. DEMAND 2-TEACH THE FUTURE The education system must be repurposed and reformed around the climate emergency to better teach young people about its urgency, severity, scientific basis and methods of mitigation. This demand has now evolved into the Teach the Future England campaign which is supported by the School Group Developmental working group as well as SOS-UK and various partner organisations. DEMAND 3-TELL THE FUTURE The Government communicate the severity of the
ecological crisis An ecological or environmental crisis occurs when changes to the environment of a species or population destabilizes its continued survival. Some of the important causes include: * Degradation of an abiotic ecological factor (for example, incr ...
and the necessity to act now to the general public. DEMAND 4-EMPOWER THE FUTURE Young people must be included in policy making, and no one should be excluded from participation in our democracy on the basis of age, citizenship, permanent address, incarceration or anything else. For as long as UK democracy is conducted through a representative system, everyone living in the UK over the age of 16 must have the right to vote in elections, conducted via
proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to any electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to political divisions (Political party, political parties) amon ...
, so that everyone's vote is reflected in our government and is worth the same.

Structure

The organisation was divided into the regional groups of: South East,

South West Southwest is a compass point. Southwest, south-west, south west, southwestern or south-western or south western may also refer to: * Southwest (direction), an intercardinal direction Geography *South West Queensland, Australia *South West (Weste ...

Midlands The Midlands is the central region of England, to the south of Northern England, to the north of southern England, to the east of Wales, and to the west of the North Sea. The Midlands comprises the ceremonial counties of Derbyshire, Herefor ...

North East The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A ''compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each ...

, North West,

and, from July 2019,

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. UKSCN was part of the Youth Strike 4 Climate movement in

and

. The rest of the UK is covered by separate organisations, in

by Fridays For Future Scotland, in

by the Youth Climate Association Northern Ireland (YCANI). YCANI previously were affiliated with UKSCN, however, split away from the group due to cultural, legal and political differences between the two groups’ respective operating countries. FFF Scotland were asked to join UKSCN soon after the founding of both organisations, however, declined for similar reasons.

Isle of Man Student Climate Network An isle is an island, land surrounded by water. The term is very common in British English. However, there is no clear agreement on what makes an island an isle or its difference, so they are considered synonyms. Isle may refer to: Geography * Is ...

are a separate group who organise strikes in the

Isle of Man The Isle of Man ( , also ), or Mann ( ), is a self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland. As head of state, Charles III holds the title Lord of Mann and is represented by a Lieutenant Govern ...

, a Crown Dependency of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. Isle of Man Student Climate Network coordinates with UKSCN, but are an independent organisation, founded in March 2019 by Ciara Sowerby, Archibald Elliott and Emily Thompson. UKSCN did not directly organise strikes, but acted as a network for over 120 active local groups and strikes in over 300 locations around

and

. It had a national organising team that was split into several working groups that took part in campaigns and worked with other movements. The number of volunteers assisting the group grew from around 30 in early March 2019 to an estimate of 300 by the end of April that year. In addition, it provided a platform for connection to around 350 youth strikers, whom are unaffiliated to the group specifically.

History

UKSCN's first strike was held on 15 February 2019, under the name YouthStrike4Climate. It saw 15,000 English and Welsh school students strike from schools in protest, with strikes in

and

organised by different organisations. This was followed by a second strike on 15 March 2019 which was coordinated with global Youth Strike 4 Climate protests that were held across the world, which saw 1.6 million students go on strike. The organisation's demonstrations have grown in popularity, with an estimated total of 20,000 people in attendance at the demonstration held outside

Parliament Square Parliament Square is a square at the northwest end of the Palace of Westminster in the City of Westminster in central London, England. Laid out in the 19th century, it features a large open green area in the centre with trees to its west, and ...

on 15 March and 50,000 across England and Wales. The strikes are in solidarity with other Youth Strike 4 Climate protests taking place across the world. Strikes have since taken place on: * 12 April 2019 * 24 May 2019 * 21 June 2019 * 19 July 2019 * 20 September 2019 which was a

general strike A general strike is a strike action in which participants cease all economic activity, such as working, to strengthen the bargaining position of a trade union or achieve a common social or political goal. They are organised by large coalitions ...

of adults and students; this was the largest climate mobilisation in UK history with an estimated 100,000 people in London alone and an estimated 300,000 people at strikes across the UK. * 29 November 2019 * 14 February 2020 * Digital strikes under lockdown The only nationally coordinated strikes of 2020 were on 17 January and 14 February. Local group Bristol Youth Strike 4 Climate organised and held a strike on 28 February 2020 that was attended by over 30,000 people along with

Greta Thunberg Greta Tintin Eleonora Ernman Thunberg (; born 3January 2003) is a Swedish climate activist, climate and political activist initially known for challenging world leaders to take immediate action to climate change mitigation, mitigate the effec ...

. Any further demonstrations were paused due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

; however, youth strikers have been engaging in online actions such as Fridays for Future Digital and Polluters Out's Twitter Storm.

References

External links

Official website
{{Portalbar, Climate change, Environment, United Kingdom 2018 establishments in England Environmental organisations based in London Organizations established in 2018 Student organisations in the United Kingdom Youth organisations based in London