Student protestors have accused politicians of not acting soon enough and paying lip service to themselves over climate change.

Tynwald members last week voted to recognise a climate change emergency and to establish a ’dedicated climate emergency transformation team’.

However for the students who have protested outside Tynwald building on Fridays throughout this year, members have not gone far enough.

Ciara Sowerby, a sixth former at Ballakermeen told the Examiner that she is ’dissapointed’ in the decision made but that ’it is better than nothing’.

Her words were echoed by Queen Elizabeth II student Archibald Elliot who accused members of ’lacking the actions to back up their words’.

Ciara added: ’They have all said they support climate action, but then they pass an amendment to pass something else further down the line.’

The students said they were particularly dissapointed that the amendment by Ramsey MHK Lawrie Hooper (Liberal Vannin) failed to gain enough support.

Mr Hooper had sought to commit Tynwald to a target of carbon net neutrality by 2035, saying that ’urgent and unprecedented action is required’, adding ’it is our moral and ethical duty’.

However, members rejected his amendment by 23 votes to 10 and instead backed Ralph Peake’s MHK (Douglas North) amendment that removed a timetable for net neutrality but committed Tynwald to established the transformation team and the government to bringing its climate plan to Tynwald by January 2020.

Ciara said that this gave the impression that members knew they had to act but had ’decided to leave it for six months’. She accused members of ignoring the evidence previously shown to Tynwald in 2016 and highlighted by Mr Hooper during the debate which gave 2035 as a good target for members to aim at.

And she said that some Tynwald members were just ’talking for the sake of it’.

Archibald added that while members say they want further youth engagement, politicians don’t seem to be listening,

He said: ’There are statistics to back up that the public are behind this plan, people have shown they want immediate action.’