‘I’m tired of the lies’: the young activists leading the way on climate action

Sometimes it takes the clarity of youth to capture a moment.

Izzy Raj-Seppings had that clarity when she stood her ground outside the Australian prime minister's residence despite being ordered to move by riot police.

She was part of a small group protesting against then prime minister Scott Morrison's inaction on the climate crisis as the country endured unprecedented bushfires across the south-east.

A photo of 13-year-old Izzy, tears running down her face, as a police officer told her to move, catapulted her to the forefront of an emerging generation being failed by its leaders and public institutions.

It wasn't planned this way - it was just the second time Izzy had been to a protest. But her moment of defiance chimed with a rising global youth movement, much of it inspired by Greta Thunberg's School Strike 4 Climate protests.

The Guardian has given a platform to these campaigners as the movement, often led by articulate and authoritative young women, has evolved and expanded. In a piece written between school commitments, Izzy summed up the attitude towards the political class: "Their denial has gone on for far too long. I'm tired, tired of the lies and misdirection. I'm tired of watching my future, my friends' and family's futures, all of our futures, burn before our very eyes."

Miranda Whelehan, a campaigner with the activist group Just Stop Oil, expressed similar sentiments in April after she was ridiculed by a presenter on British morning television in a scene that could have come straight out of the satirical film Don't Look Up.