"I am not a girl from India, I am a girl from Earth." 15-year-old Vinisha Umashankar had an important message for world leaders at COP26...
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00:00I'm not just a girl from India. I am a girl from earth. I
00:05However, I'm not here to speak about the future. I
00:09am the future many of my generation are angry and
00:14Frustrated at leaders who have made empty promises and failed to deliver
00:30I
00:47For the next two weeks of COP 26, we will speak about our future
00:54deadlines
00:55milestones hopes and fears I
00:59However, I'm not here to speak about the future. I am the future in
01:072030 by when we must have our carbon emissions. I'll be just
01:1224 years old
01:14By 2050 when we will assess whether net zero has been achieved or not
01:20I'll be in my early 40s and by
01:252100
01:26Hopefully still going strong at 94
01:29The point is that me and my generation will live to see the consequences of our actions today
01:37Yet none of what we discussed today seems practical to me
01:42You are deciding whether or not we will have a chance to live in a habitable world
01:48You are deciding whether or not we are worth fighting for what supporting and what caring?
01:56many of my generation are angry and frustrated at leaders who have made empty promises and
02:03failed to deliver and
02:06we have every reason to be angry, but I
02:10Have no time for anger. I want to act
02:14I'm not just a girl from India. I am a girl from earth and I'm proud to be so
02:21I'm also a student
02:24innovator
02:25environmentalist and entrepreneur
02:27But most importantly I'm an optimist
02:31Today I ask with all due respect that we stop talking and start doing
02:38We the earth short prize winners and finalists need you to back our innovations
02:44projects and solutions
02:46Not an economy built on fossil fuels smoke and pollution
02:52We need to stop thinking about old debates because we need a new vision for a new future
03:00So you need to invest your time money and effort in us to shape our future
03:07We the earth short prize winners and finalists choose to by the end of this decade
03:13To protect and restore our nature
03:17clean our air
03:18revive our oceans build a waste-free world and fix our climate and
03:25We are the proof that the greatest challenge that the history of our earth has ever seen is
03:32also the greatest opportunity
03:34we lead the greatest wave of innovation that humanity has ever known and
03:40We choose not to complain but to take actions that will make us healthier and wealthier and
03:48we choose to do these things not because they are easy, but because they are hard and
03:54rising to these challenges will shape a new generation a
03:58generation that will build a better world for all of us and
04:03generations to come and on behalf of the earth short prize winners and
04:09Finalists I invite you to join us. I
04:13invite you to stand with us and
04:16We hope that you will give up the old ways of thinking and the old habits
04:21But let me be clear when we invite you to join us
04:26We will lead even if you don't
04:30we will act even if you delay and
04:34We'll build the future
04:36Even if you are still stuck in the past
04:40but please accept my invite and I assure you you will not regret it and
04:48Finally just remember when it comes to climate change
04:52There is no stop button
04:55We can't hit pause or even rewind we can only move together
05:01towards the future
05:03So united we rise and together we will definitely succeed. Thank you