We need to protect the planet for Max, for all our children, for all our children’s children

Gill Smart, and her newborn baby boy, Max, who was born on the same day that Cop26 started

It might not have been three wise men but as little Max Douglas entered the world on Sunday, 120 prime ministers and presidents were arriving in Scotland to save it.

Weighing in at 7lbs 8oz, Max made his entrance at 5.12pm on Sunday, a few hours after Cop26 opened and a few miles away from the venue on the banks of the Clyde.

Today, back at home, his parents Gill Smart, 33, and Daniel Douglas, 35, say they only hope the climate summit will protect the planet for Max and all the other 385,000 babies born on Sunday around the world.

Smiling, as she held her little boy at home in Stepps, outside Glasgow, Gill said: “I knew Cop26 was opening but, to be honest, I had my mind on other things on Sunday.

“We had a first class care from the Princess Royal maternity for which we will be eternally grateful.

“Every parent will want the best things for their children but with the talks starting in Glasgow as Max arrived, it feels even more significant somehow.

“The decisions being taken today will shape the world he grows up in. There is a responsibility on the leaders and on all of us to protect the planet for our children and their children.

“Everyone knows how important the decisions being made in Glasgow could be but having Max here now and thinking about the world he will grow up in, just makes it all so real.

Gill Smart and partner Daniel with newborn Max (Pic: Andrew Cawley)

“The scientists say we have less than a decade to make huge changes to save our planet so promises made in Glasgow must be kept. I want Max and all the babies born this week to grow up in a world that is protected and safe from harm.”

In her job as a teacher at a Fife primary school, Gill has been instructing her pupils on the value of a healthy environment where rubbish is banned from playgrounds but instead recycled and care for the local woodlands is practised in class outings. Sustainable living is woven into the Scottish primary school curriculum.

“It is important in schools and now part of the curriculum. They may all be 12 and under but these children already know the basics of caring for and cherishing our climate and how lifestyle decisions made here can impact on other countries less able to bear the consequences.

“These are counties where floods can destroy lives and homes of people with the poorest resources to cope with increasing flooding and rising seas.

“While we may be less impacted at the moment we must act to protect those who are and have poorer resources to deal with it.

“Pupils are quick to spot recyclable materials, the impact every living creature, tree and their dependency on each other and they are keen to take that message home.

“They are aware that this is no passing phase or trend but a change in lifestyle forever.

“The impact on people living in other parts of the world has made a considerable impression on them.”

Back home, the daily work of a new baby is an energy spinner with the seemingly endless changes of clothes every new baby goes through.

Gill admits they are mindful of this and to address that they have bought a heat pump tumble dryer which has markedly lower energy consumption and running costs than older condenser ones.

Little changes make a big difference if we all start doing them now.

“Like many parents I try not to buy anything without considering the impact on the environment,” Gill said.

“We would like to get an electric car but the price is a huge stumbling block for us and many parents. That can only improve though, with progress.”