Our Grandchildren’s Climate, the UK member of European Grandparents for Climate wrote the following Briefing Notes for the conference that takes place in Santa Marta Colombia from April 24 to 28, 2026.
1- We are an organisation of very concerned Elders in UK, fearful for, and desperate about, the very slow political response to the emergency we face. We came together as an organisation because we lived through the period of over-reliance on fossil fuels, the evidence of climate change either ignored or denied except by very few – it is our history. There has been no political will to truly alert the country to the consequences despite the efforts of those politicians, academics, think tanks who continue to try. We know urgent reaction is needed. We have our age, experience, time and commitment to join with others old and young, to try to protect the future generation. And we know that our time and the planet’s time are running out
2- We know that the voices of children need to be heard, loud and strong, so that they have a world in which they can flourish. We know they need hope that they will have a future while having to assimilate, somehow, the emergency facing them. It is an extremely hard task to keep one’s focus on this very very frightening future.
3- We believe in justice – justice in transitioning from fossil fuels, from the different contexts in which fossil fuels have proliferated and caused harm, economic justice for the costs of transitioning, generational justice. Climate action is a human right.
4- We think the evidence is uncontroversial, that fossil fuels must be phased out and not extracted any more. Any contribution we can make to the outcome of this conference is important. The UK National Emergency Briefing (October 2025) enumerates the many domains that are affected by the climate disaster and the imperative need to build resilience.
Caroline Lucas, former UK Green Party Member of Parliament, horrified by the lack of response to the Joint Intelligence Committee’s report, wrote in a recent letter on the present and future effects of changes:
“JIC warned of “cascading risks” from the degradation of some of the planet’s most important ecosystems, including conflict, increased competition for resources and economic shocks. Six ecosystems “critical for UK national security” are all “on a pathway to collapse”, some potentially within five years – in other words, they face “irreversible loss of function beyond repair”. The UK’s heavy reliance on food and fertiliser imports means our food security is particularly at risk, threatening food shortages, higher prices and civil unrest”.
5- In agreement with the aims of the conference we support the emphasis on solution focus and action, rather than continued diagnosis and persuasion. We wish to be recognized, in solidarity with other civic society organisations and groups representing the interests of all sectors of society impacted by the continued use of fossil fuels. We also appreciate the support of our fellow-members of European Grandparents for Climate in making this appeal.
References: Geneva Environment Network and The Fossil Fuel Treaty Initiative