A young environmental activist has said she will continue to skip school every week until the Government ‘takes climate change seriously’.

Holly Gillibrand, 13, from the Scottish Highlands, ditches her first lesson every Friday morning as she, alongside around 10 other pupils, demand Scottish leaders and the prime minister to take action.

She told Metro.co.uk: ‘I’d rather not be missing my lesson but it’s a sacrifice that needs to be made to see any action.

Holly Gillibrand, 13, skips school every week to protest against climate change (Picture: Holly Gillibrand)

‘We strike every Friday morning, because I think it’s the only way we can make our voices heard, and the government isn’t doing anything.


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‘I will continue as long as I can or until the Scottish government takes climate change seriously.’



She said her parents and teachers support her, but the Highland Council doesn’t ‘like what we’re doing’, and added: ‘They say they can’t condone or authorise the absence.’

However, she said she won’t be happy before the government starts aiming for ‘zero greenhouse gas emission by 2030’.

She has been joined by as many as 30 children and adults during her seven weeks of protesting (Picture: Holly Gillibrand)

After a successful protest that saw thousands of children across the UK march for the environment last Friday, Holly is helping to organise yet another global event on 15 March.

She said the School Strike 4 Climate movement is ‘a lot quieter now’, but believes young people are still keen to make their voices hear.

When asked what she would tell Theresa May if she could address the PM directly, Holly said: ‘I would tell her she is not doing enough about climate change.

‘It is my generation and future generations who will suffer because of her inaction.

Caption: Children will strike against climate change until the government listens

‘Our leaders are destroying our future and if we’re not doing anything, it’s not going to stop.’

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Holly – who has stopped eating meat and dairy and takes public transport as ‘often as I can’ – urged other young people to join her in doing what they can for the environment.

When asked what she’s most passionate about, Holly concluded: ‘You need to be passionate about all the things, there are a lot of contributing factors to climate change, you can’t just pick one’.

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