YOUNGSTERS around the world have joined a global climate strike to press for urgent action on climate change - and in response, Chippenham-based green energy business Good Energy is handing over control of its Twitter account to local students.

The Good Energy Twitter account has 38,000 followers, one of the largest in the energy industry, and striking students are being given the opportunity to voice their concerns, thoughts, and ideas about the climate change crisis.

The Twitter feed features photos of lots of protesters in and around the centre of Bath.

Juliet Davenport, Good Energy’s CEO and founder said: “Government says absence outside school holidays should only be granted in exceptional circumstances. Well, these are exceptional circumstances. The planet we live on, their future, is in peril. We should encourage them to take ownership and make a difference.”

On her blog today, she wrote: "Twenty years ago I set up a company to tackle climate change. But despite two decades of dedication, the advocacy of Greta Thunberg and the wider youth climate strike movements have made it clear that I still have things left to learn.

"Those of us who are veterans or experts in tackling climate change should not only be taking note, we should be ceding the stage. 

Because young people are taking ownership and getting traction where older generations have not. They can have a straightforward approach that is admirable. We should be encouraged by and actively encouraging the strikes. They are necessary. They are exciting.

Their movement is so effective because their message is so clear and the tactic so simple. This is the generation that will be most affected by climate change. Disrupting the status quo of the school day hits that message home."