SCHOOLCHILDREN in Taunton took part in a nationwide protest against climate change, with many walking out of school to pick up a placard.

Students from The Castle School gathered at Market House in Taunton town centre on Friday (February 15) to protest about climate change.

The mass walk-out, which was organised by Youth Strike 4 Climate, took place in 60 towns and cities across the UK, to urge leaders to tackle climate change.

The movement has already seen school strikes in Australia and European countries including Belgium, and has been inspired by teenager Greta Thunberg, who protests every Friday outside Sweden's parliament to urge leaders to tackle climate change.

The strikes come in the wake of a UN report which warned that limiting global temperature rises to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels, beyond which climate impacts become increasingly severe, requires unprecedented action.

That includes cutting global carbon dioxide emissions by almost half within 12 years.

Castle School students were among thousands of students in the UK who are demanding the Government to declare a climate emergency and take active steps to tackle the problem, communicate the severity of the ecological crisis to the public and reform the curriculum to make it an educational priority.

They also want recognition that young people have the biggest stake in the future, should be involved in policymaking, and that the voting age should be lowered to 16.

One Castle School student who got involved in the protest was 15-year-old Maddie Cooper. She said: "I am protesting because I feel like young people really need to do something about climate change because ultimately what is the point of us getting an education if the planet will not be around in 50 years?

"I think young people need to take action to try and tackle climate change, the responsibility to do something about it is in our hands."

Anna Taylor, of UK Student Climate Network, said: "We're running out of time for meaningful change, and that's why we're seeing young people around the world rising up to hold their governments to account on their dismal climate records.

"Unless we take positive action, the future's looking bleak for those of us that have grown up in an era defined by climate change."

The National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) said it supports the right of young people to express themselves but it did not condone students being out of the classroom to take action.

In a statement, the NAHT said: "While a school leader's role is to ensure children attend school, are kept safe and receive a good quality of education, it is right that individual school leaders can decide how best to respond to any proposed protest by students in their school on Friday."