Walthamstow School for Girls pupils were part of a group that voted in favour of an immediate start to fracking as a way of boosting the UK energy industry.

Pupils from the Church Hill school were invited to a national conference for young people at the Royal Institution last week, where they discussed their views on “future technologies and their ethical implications”.

More than two-thirds of 280 14 to 18 year olds voted in favour of the controversial drilling technique as a stop-gap to meet current demands, while also calling for greater global cooperation to combat climate change and to meet energy needs exclusively through renewables.

Student Laura Bowles, 15, said: “We believe that securing a sustainable energy supply is a global responsibility and that developed countries have a responsibility to support developing countries to diversify and increase their use of renewable energy.”