11-Year-Old Vows to Walk 210 Miles Across England to Push Lawmakers to Make Changes Regarding Climate Change

Jude’s last name is Walker. Apropos considering what the 11-year-old is doing to capture the UK government’s attention and bring awareness to climate change.

“I'm walking 210 miles from Hebden Bridge to London,” Jude explained. “It's going to take 21 days, and I'm doing this because I want the U.K. government to introduce a carbon tax."

Jude also hopes to get the public's attention. He needs 100,000 signatures on a petition calling for a carbon tax before parliament will even consider it for debate.

Jude thought of the idea and told his mom while she was asleep. The next day, she encouraged him to go for it. She had him begin by completing a 10-mile training walk. He then built up to doing harder walks with more obstacles.

Now every day, Jude walks 10 miles and is accompanied by either family or friends.

Earlier this month, a U.N. climate panel warned that global warming is dangerously close to spiraling out of control, and earth will certainly face more climate disruptions for decades, if not centuries, to come.

Walker says lawmakers have to agree to make concrete changes at this year’s United Nations Climate Change Conference, known as COP26, in Scotland later this year.

"It would just be a dystopian world, I think, if this summit doesn't go to plan," he said. “If we don't make absolute legal changes.

“So I know in the U.K. it's the law we have to be carbon neutral by 2050," he continued. "I want to make non-optional, set-in-stone rules that we have to stick to in this summit, and that includes carbon taxes."

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