On Friday 17 March Sir Alok Sharma attended local school’s ‘There Is Only One World Climate Summit’, organised by St Edwards Prep School & Nursery and hosted at the Thales UK offices in Green Park, Reading.

Teams from St Edwards Prep and Nursery, Holme Grange School, St Joseph’s College, Englefield Primary, Herries Preparatory School, Leighton Park School and Westonbirt Prep School presented climate action pledges to a panel of judges.

Sir Alok was joined on the panel by Professor Hannah Cloke OBE, from Reading University’s Department of Geography and Environmental Science, and Ian Gough from Reduce Energy Ltd. All schools had agreed to implement the winning climate pledges.

The winning pledge came from Team Flexitarians from Leighton Park School, which has resulted in all schools pledging to have a meat free day a week. Schools also signed up to a second pledge committing to cut their plastic use by 50%, as this was a common theme among many of the teams’ submissions.

Sir Alok Sharma said:

“I was delighted to be invited to speak at the local schools Climate Summit and help judge the many excellent ideas from pupils to cut emissions. A lot of work and thought had clearly gone into the presentations made by the teams, and I was impressed by the level of detail in many of the proposals. All the students had clearly understood that climate change is a global issue, but we can all play our part as individuals and local communities in tackling it. I look forward to the schools reporting periodically on the progress they are making on the two pledges they have signed up to.”

St Edward’s Prep School’s Headteacher, Johnathan Parsons, said:

“It is inspiring to see what our children can do, and it is important they have these opportunities. Having someone like Sir Alok Sharma there and seeing him interacting with the children makes it so real. We are happy to have started this event and hope that it continues to grow and spread the vital message of taking action to protect our planet.”