LEGO issues handbook written by children on how to tackle the climate crisis, ahead of Cop26

The handbook is meant to inform world leaders what action young people think should be taken to tackle the climate crisis

(LEGO)

Children’s toy manufacturer LEGO has released a new climate change handbook with instructions from children on what world leaders can do to tackle the climate crisis.

“Building Instructions for a Better World” lists ten building “instructions” based on research and workshops with over 6,000 eight to 18-year-olds globally.

These instructions include “reducing pollution and waste”, “protecting nature”, “changing laws”, “educating people” and “investing in the environment”.

LEGO’s 10 climate change-tackling building instructions include “investing in the environment” (LEGO)

The handbook has been released ahead of Cop26, the two-week United Nations Climate Change Conference which will see world leaders gather in Glasgow from Sunday, 31 October.

LEGO plans to hand over the instructions to policy makers at the event to “help remind leaders to place children at the forefront of discussions”.

“The building instructions underline the responsibility of decision makers to deliver on climate change for those who will be most affected – the next generation,” a statement on LEGO’s site said.

As part of its research, LEGO also found that nearly half of children (48 per cent) think about the environment once a week, with 11 per cent thinking of it daily.

A further 68 per cent of eight to 18-year-olds say that global warming is their “number one concern” when thinking about the planet and people, and that 51 per cent want a career that actively improves the environment.

The children also called for better environmental education across all ages and 60 per cent said they believe it’s not too late to save the planet if we make changes now.

“Children are demanding that they and future generations are front of mind when it comes to creating policy, and that policy makers and businesses all make the shift to longer-term thinking and commitments to change,” Tim Brooks, VP of Environmental Responsibility at the LEGO Group said.

“This is how we’ll inspire and empower the children of today to become the builders of tomorrow.”

To view the full handbook, visit lego.com/sustainability