The children and young people, aged between eight and 17, delivered a petition on behalf of the Stop Climate Chaos organisation, which orchestrated the march and rally against climate change in Trafalgar Square earlier this month.

The six children handed the Prime Minister a petition signed by 150,000 people calling for legislation to commit the UK to reducing carbon emissions by a fixed amount year on year, and spoke to him about their concerns for the future of the environment.

Said 17-year-old Jenny Avery, “I wasn’t nervous about meeting Tony Blair as climate change is a very important issue and we wanted to let him know that young people care. We are the ones who will have to live with it when we are older.”

Twelve-year-old Amina Seylani added, “I was very excited to meet the Prime Minister. He listened to us and told us he was concerned about climate change too. It’s up to young people to speak out and make a difference as we are going to be living with climate change.”

The meeting came as Friends of the Earth issued results of a poll which shows young people are increasingly concerned about the state of the environment. Two-thirds of people aged between eight and 14 said not enough was being done about climate change, while three-quarters said they were worried about global warming’s impact.