Dispatches from the Youth Climate Movement
This video was made by Yong Ping Loo from Singapore from the last day of youth action at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Conference of Parties (COP14).
We are everywhere.
xo,
joshua
Joshua Kahn Russell is an organizer working to bridge movements for environmental sanity and racial justice. He currently works as Rainforest Action Network’s Grassroots Actions Manager, campaigning to end our addiction to coal and oil. Josh is a strategy and non-violent direct action trainer with the Ruckus Society. He serves on the steering committee of the Energy Action Coalition. Joshua has contributed chapters to several books and is a regular writer for Znet, WireTap, and It's Getting Hot In Here, and his articles have appeared in Yes! Magazine, Left Turn Magazine, Peacework Magazine, Upping the Anti, and Grist Magazine, among others.
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Below is the text of the speech (featured in this video) delivered by members of the International Youth Delegation to the UN climate meeting in Poznan, Poland on Friday, Dec. 12, 2008. This speech was a collaborative effort of a youth speech writing team and was delivered by young people from Canada, India, Fiji, and Denmark. Text in brackets was included the original draft but not delivered in the actual statement to the UN because youth (1/2 the global population) were only given 2 minutes to speak!
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“I know we are all in this together and should act as one single world, (towards one single goal)”
Those were the words of a young girl addressing the Rio Summit. At the time of that speech I was just a year old, 16 years later you are still unable to reach an agreement to secure my future.
I feel ashamed when countries like mine who have so much, do so little. I feel outraged when they trade basic human rights for their own self interest. Developed countries must show leadership and if they don’t it will be the most unconscionable act in the history of humanity.
In my ancestral village in, India, farmers have never been to a shopping mall, nor have they had the luxury of owning a car. NO, they do not know the words “global warming,” but they do know that the seasons are changing. (For centuries they have relied on the monsoons. But now the rains are less certain as is their future survival.)
Address this global challenge, overcome greed and fear. Greed is embedded in the ‘growth’ culture of wealthy nations. Our fear stops us from changing to the sustainable lifestyle, the sustainable economy we need.
We ask for leadership that overcomes these barriers.
(Have you overcome greed and fear?)
For small island nations, negative climate impacts are happening today.
Our islands are drowning. We are going underwater.
(I need you to understand, that the longer you take to make decisions, the harder our fight for survival becomes.)
We have a right to existence on this earth.
This right is no less than developed nations, but, if you do not take action, we face the loss of our islands, our culture and our identity.
Over 80 nations have signed the youth pledge calling for the survival of all countries and peoples.
This must form the basis of the next agreement and we will hold you to your word.
(Some of you have indicated that you are ready to get to Copenhagen, others have yet to demonstrate real leadership.)
This week, my region has grieved us deeply this week by failing to take bold action.
We need your courage. Other countries are backing away from previous commitments. We need your ambition.
Change may be coming, but we need hope to translate into action.
Do not derail our journey to a sustainable future.
The train to Copenhagen is already moving, youth are on board, are you?
Survival is not negotiable.