Southend schoolboy speaking at COP28 summit in Dubai

Harry Acheampong, aged 12, is the outgoing Sir David Amess Children’s Parliament Prime Minister.

The Thorpe Hall School student delivered a powerful message to other young people in the global climate summit’s public zone.

He described it as “an absolute joy” to speak at the United Nations’ climate event, where he warned action needed to be taken.

Harry warned warned action needed to be taken. (Image: 6Hillgrove)

Harry said: “We need to use innovation to find our way out of this catastrophe. We should think outside the box, as the longer we wait, the more dire the situation will be.

“It shouldn’t be ‘business as usual’ anymore.”

As a member of the Children’s Parliament, set up by the late Southend West MP Sir David, Harry is optimistic that young people are being listened to.

He said: “Children are part of the solution to the climate problem. They should be encouraged to talk about it. The more we talk about it, the louder the calls for change become.

“There are deniers, but most people accept that we are destroying our own environment. If we don’t take any action, we will regret it very soon.

“It’s late, but it’s better for us to do something about it rather than giving up. We have to change and innovate  its been ‘business as usual’ for far too long.”

Harry attended the summit with his proud father, Richard Acheampong. (Image: Richard Acheampong)

Richard Acheampong, Harry’s father, is “incredibly proud”.

He said: “Standing in front of the whole world delivering an address is not an easy thing to do.”

The prospect of Harry becoming the first British-Ghanaian Prime Minister is something Richard describes as “far-fetched”, but he is hopeful it could happen in the future.

He added: “It would be a very proud moment, not only for Ghana but also the whole African continent and the diaspora.

"Being a children’s Prime Minister of the UK is an incredible achievement in itself.”

However, it was not just Harry who flew the flag for south Essex at COP28.

Rachel Ojo, 21, from Basildon, was one of four UK youth delegates who directly addressed decision-makers at the summit.

Rachel told the BBC: “It's important to involve everyone in the conversation and this was the COP that had the most young people in attendance.

“It's our future. We can't leave it until later, because ‘later’ will be too late.”