Talk to Sixth Formers
On 21 January 2020 Helen Gavin gave an assembly to over 250 sixth form students (years 12 and 13) at Bartholomew School, Eynsham, following a request for someone to come into school and talk about climate change issues.
So that we knew exactly the students were interested in, the students were asked to send, in advance, the questions they would like to have answered. This proved to be a very useful exercise, as it provided a set of excellent questions on a range of climate change issues.
Having conferred with members of the Integrate team and other colleagues, Helen collated the responses to generate a cohesive set of answers. These responses were passed to the school for circulation, and have also been put online.
These were the questions asked:
- Could the national grid support 100% of drivers using electric vehicles?
- Should we be doing more to limit our trade with China if we are
serious about having a global effect on emissions rather than
concentrating on purely domestic issues? - What is the single biggest thing an individual can do to reduce
their carbon footprint? - Could the UK potentially shift entirely to renewable energy and how
long would it take? - Will there be a climate/carbon tax to achieve these goals?
- How bad are the carbon emissions from the 2019–2020
Australian wildfires? Should we be concerned? - Do individual actions have a big impact or is it just a case
of making us feel like we’re doing something to help? - How plausible is the idea that the world could halt climate change
within 12–13 years (IPCC and UN goals)? - Is it true that if everyone became vegan, we could slow down/stop
climate change? - To what extent are there generational differences in attitudes
towards climate change? - Is cutting back on single use plastic actually making an impact?
- What is the best way to inspire system change without going to
the same extremes as extinction rebellion. Is it the right cause of
action to take? - Would it be possible to help LICs and NEEs to develop in a
sustainable way which will mean they start out using clean
and sustainable energy sources?
You can access the set of questions and responses here.
