Voices is the Dorset Echo's weekly youth page - written for young people by young people from across the county.

In support of Youth Strike 4 Climate, Year 12 and 13 pupils from the Purbeck School sent a letter to their MP Michael Tomlinson - MP for Mid-Dorset.

Here is their letter in full:

Dear Mr Tomlinson,

Last August saw students across the world first coordinating school walkouts amid concerns regarding the escalating climate crisis. Over the forthcoming weeks students across the UK will be coordinating similar walkouts. These students have made a valid point: why should they continue gaining an education when the planet is under attack? Whilst we at The Purbeck School will not be coordinating such walkouts, we are writing to you, as our local MP, to express our grave concerns regarding catastrophic climate change.

A recent report by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) states that we have just 12 years until we hit the 1.5OC temperature increase which will see coral reefs vanish, trees unable to survive, and extreme weather events more common than we have ever seen them before.

Yet this report also reinforces the fact that we have time. We have the time to fix this. But if we want to reverse this catastrophic geological damage we must be prepared to act fast and invest the necessary money and resources to the cause. However, we require the political will to do this. We need to ensure that climate change is the top priority for DEFRA and the government.

Whilst the UK has met our carbon budget for our first, second and third term, spanning from 2008-22, we are not on track to meet our fourth carbon budget which covers the period of 2023-27. Scientists have warned the UK Government that this will be the case, yet the Government continues to weaken climate policy across a wide range of areas, in particular on energy saving and renewable energy. Government policy seems to be focussing more on a strategy of adaption, preparing for higher temperatures and the increased risk of flooding and drought, rather than tackling the direct cause of climate change. We recognise and understand the significant importance of preparing for the effects of climate change, but we must not forget to work to prevent these effects also.

The Biological Conservation journal recently published a report that found that 40% of insects may become extinct over the next few decades, one of the leading causes being climate change. Data from NBN Atlas shows that in a 5km radius of The Purbeck School, there are 1,085 different species of insects. If we continue, in a few decades this number may well be around 651.

We are far too close to the 1.5OC temperature increase which will see global warming go beyond a returnable point.

We are writing to urge you to hold our ministers accountable in Parliament, and promote a clean environmental future in our constituency, our country and our planet.

Yours faithfully,

The Purbeck School Geography Students