{"id":929,"date":"2021-12-01T11:09:41","date_gmt":"2021-12-01T11:09:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/open-government-partnership\/?p=929"},"modified":"2021-12-01T11:54:30","modified_gmt":"2021-12-01T11:54:30","slug":"im-really-really-happy-they-said-that-they-were-going-to-do-this-and-theyre-actually-doing-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/open-government-partnership\/2021\/12\/01\/im-really-really-happy-they-said-that-they-were-going-to-do-this-and-theyre-actually-doing-it\/","title":{"rendered":"I\u2019m really, really happy – they said that they were going to do this, and they\u2019re actually doing it!"},"content":{"rendered":"

We recently ran an event at COP26, in collaboration with the Open Government Partnership and hosted by the Nordic Pavilion, called \u2018How Open Government principles can help deliver Climate Action\u2019.<\/p>\n

The aim was to highlight the value of applying Open Government principles of transparency, accountability and public involvement to support Climate Action, and to recognise the important and necessary contributions that the public can make to delivering Climate Action. Participants were invited to outline ambitions to meaningfully, transparently and accountably involve the public, and to identify practical steps to involve the public in delivering Climate Action, including how Open Government can help.<\/p>\n

The event began with presentations from Ministers from Scotland, Finland and Lithuania, and Canada\u2019s Ambassador for Climate Change. This was followed by a panel discussion, with questions posed to the panellists by members of Scotland\u2019s Climate Assembly (Andrew Muncaster and Susie Lilley) and members of the Children\u2019s Parliament involved in Scotland\u2019s Climate Assembly (Nadia and Tyler).<\/p>\n

As 12 and 13 year olds, Nadia and Tyler were two of the youngest official observers at COP26. We were delighted to have them involved in our event, and we think they made excellent contributions to the discussion. On the train home, they recorded the following reflections on their experience at COP26 with Katie Reid, Children\u2019s Parliament\u2019s lead for the children\u2019s participation in Scotland\u2019s Climate Assembly.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Tyler<\/strong>: When we arrived at the COP26 blue zone, I was thinking \u2018this is very busy!\u2019. It was really surreal. At first, I thought there wouldn’t be a lot of people because of how hard it was for us to get passes to get into COP, but there were a lot<\/em> of people there. This did make me happy as it showed how many other people are helping with the climate crisis.<\/p>\n

Nadia<\/strong>: There were a lot of adults and quite a few young adults or young people. There weren\u2019t many children at all. We only met one other group of children the same age to us \u2013 they were from Norway and were also helping out in the climate crisis and it was really nice to meet them.<\/p>\n

Tyler<\/strong>: In the Blue Zone, there were these little allocations of space for the different countries. We were in the Nordic Pavilion and the WWF space for our events, but my favourite was the Japan space because in the back they had a display about wind energy which I thought was interesting.<\/p>\n

Nadia<\/strong>: We went to the Action Zone where there was a humungous globe floating and spinning. It was really cool to see \u2013 it was so big and amazing. As Tyler said, it made me feel happy and hopeful because I saw how many people there actually were and that showed that people actually do want to help out. The only thing that made me feel bleh was that there weren\u2019t many children, as that\u2019s what we\u2019re doing right now \u2013 we\u2019re trying to speak up for children and get more children involved! I think children should be involved in COP26 and big events like it so people can hear new perspectives, new voices and new ideas from children.<\/p>\n

Katie<\/strong>: How would you make COP26 more child-friendly?<\/p>\n

Tyler<\/strong>: There was a lot of language that I could understand but if there were going to be more children there in the future, then they should use more simplistic words. They were using pretty long words.<\/p>\n

Nadia<\/strong>: In the future if COP26 wants to involve children, you could have children\u2019s spaces or area where there are fun events for children and child-friendly information on what adults are speaking about. That would be pretty cool.<\/p>\n

Katie<\/strong>: At COP26, what did you get up to?<\/p>\n

Nadia<\/strong>: This morning we went to a panel with four leaders \u2013 from Lithuania, Finland, Canada and Scotland. The leaders pretty much talked about what they\u2019re doing to be open governments and then Tyler and I asked questions with the adult Assembly members \u2013 who we had just met for the first time in person! They were really nice.<\/p>\n

Katie<\/strong>: What does Open Government mean?<\/p>\n

Tyler<\/strong>: So Open Government is pretty much when people get to voice their ideas and opinions to the government.<\/p>\n

Nadia<\/strong>: I really liked what Canada is doing because they\u2019re doing a lot with young people \u2013 mainly young adults though. Then we went to a UNICEF event about how a climate crisis is also a children\u2019s rights crisis because it\u2019s affecting children in lots of places, children\u2019s voices aren\u2019t being heard, and it\u2019s our future! I really liked hearing from the young climate activists. Saher was so passionate and inspiring.<\/p>\n

Katie<\/strong>: Two big announcements were made by the Scottish Government today based on the Climate Assembly recommendations and the Members of Children\u2019s Parliament\u2019s calls to action \u2013 banning single use plastic and creating resource sharing libraries. How did this make you feel?<\/p>\n

Nadia<\/strong>: Honestly, I\u2019m really, really <\/em>happy because it shows that the adults promised, well said, that they were going to do this, and they\u2019re actually doing it! It makes me really happy that our voices were included and they\u2019re actually doing things.<\/p>\n

Katie<\/strong>: What do you hope happens next?<\/p>\n

Tyler<\/strong>: What I hope happens next is that in December, we\u2019re going to be getting told what the Scottish Government are going to do with our calls to action so I really hope that most of the really important ones that we consistently talk about actually happen.<\/p>\n

Nadia<\/strong>: I think children should be involved more in future COPs because I think a lot of adults will be interested in it and will realise that we do care and since it is our future, that we really just want what\u2019s best. I also want to keep chatting to Lorna Slater [our MSP whom the children met during The Moment on the 29th<\/sup> October 2021] to know what they\u2019re doing to take forward our calls to action.<\/p>\n

Tyler<\/strong>: Yes, Children\u2019s Parliament has given me a lot of ways to help with the climate crisis and way to voice my opinion.<\/p>\n

Nadia<\/strong>: Being in the Children\u2019s Parliament and Climate Assembly has opened up lots of new perspectives for me because I didn\u2019t really know about climate change before and I\u2019ve learned so much. I think other people, adults, also know that, because we\u2019re doing this in the Children\u2019s Parliament, children do care about climate change.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

For more information about the children\u2019s participation in Scotland\u2019s Climate Assembly and COP26 go to Children’s Parliament Climate Change Makers<\/a> or contact: Katie Reid, Children\u2019s Voices Programme Manager at katie@childrensparliament.org.uk<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em>You can watch a video of the event on We Don\u2019t Have Time\u2019s YouTube<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em>The panellists were: <\/em><\/p>\n