COY16 student video plays to world leaders

As an official partner of COY16 - UN Climate Change Conference of Youth – students at City of Glasgow College have been applauded for their support every step of the way.

The conference, which took place ahead of COP26, has been hailed the most significant youth gathering for its ability to highlight the position of young people.

One of its major outputs was a Global Youth Statement which was passed directly to COP26 President, Alok Sharma.

The statement concluded a year of intensive community consultation with young people from around the world; discussing and framing the issues which matter most in their communities and across the planet.

A video to accompany the Youth Statement was played during its formal handover to Alok Sharma. It was produced by three BA (Hons) Television students at City of Glasgow College, David McMorrison, Benjamin Ross and Craig Nixon, who said:

“It was a wonderful opportunity that my group are very thankful for, especially because it was for such an important and meaningful event.

“At times it was stressful and challenging producing the video, but the final result is rewarding and something that we feel proud to have created and been involved with.

"It also gave us an insight into working with others in an outside environment and under pressure with deadlines.”

Zahra Khan, Vice President for Diversity and Wellbeing at City of Glasgow College, added:

"COY16 has been a huge opportunity for us in Glasgow to put words into action, at home. The first move to a sustainable global climate initiative is decolonisation. It's collaboration. It's having difficult conversations about how we got into this mess, accepting accountability, and ensuring equality and access to knowledge for all."

Now in its 16th year, the Conference of Youth has been dubbed the largest and longest running youth event to date; gathering thousands of young change-makers from more than 140 countries.