22 Brave, Young Climate Change Warriors Who Are Fighting To Save Our Planet
Since our leaders won't do anything to save our planet, these young fighters are taking matters into their own hands. Many youngsters organising marches and demonstrations have also been active in protesting against lack of action to combat climate change - organising youth coalitions, clubs and groups of their own.?
For most of us, thinking about our future means deciding careers, thinking about what city to move to and the like - we are more worried about ourselves rather than considering a life where we can give back what we have taken from the soil we stand on. However, these kids are different.
They are doing some amazing work, and even adults should be following their example.
1.?Valentina Elangbam, India
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Valentina Elangbam, a 9-year-old girl from Manipur, who was seen crying in a viral video after two trees that she had planted and nurtured for years, were cut, has now been appointed as the first 'Green Ambassador' of Manipur.
Manipur CM N Biren Singh appointed Valentina as the ¡°Green Ambassador¡± for ¡°Chief Minister¡¯s Green Manipur Mission¡±, and all official plantation activities taken up in the State in recognition of her immense love and exemplary affection for the trees.
2. Isra Hirsi, USA
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This 16-year-old brave girl is the co-founder and co-Executive Director of the US Youth Climate Strike, and the daughter of Congresswoman Ilhan Omar. She made it her goal to help change the world from a young age. She has always wanted to help others and make sure that every space is welcoming. She uses her passion for issues as a way to channel her advocacy to help change the world.
3.?Luisa Neubauer, Germany
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This 23-year-old one is of the main organizers of the school strike for climate movement inspired by Greta Thunberg. Neubauer is a member of Alliance 90/The Greens and the Green Youth. She is a member of green political party 'Alliance 90/The Greens' and The Green youth in Germany.
4. Lily,?Thailand
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Lily is Thailand's Greta Thunberg At 12, she¡¯s fighting a war against plastic. Motivated by activist Greta Thunberg, the girl has also multiplied actions for the climate. She started campaigning at the age of eight after a seaside vacation in southern Thailand where she was horrified by a beach covered in rubbish.
5. Saoi O¡¯Connor, Ireland
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This 16-year-old travels 2 hours from her home to the city every Friday?morning to protest against climate change. She is one of the most critical figures of Ireland's youth climate rebellion. Her dedicated activism has led to a friendship with Swedish activist Thunberg.?
6. Joshua Wong, Hong Kong
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Activist Joshua Wong spoke to US lawmakers urging them to pass legislation aimed at protecting Hong Kong's civil rights, and everyone listened to him with rapt attention. He is a key student activist from Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement. Rising to international fame during the 2014 Hong Kong protests. He was named one of TIME magazine's 25 Most Influential Teens of 2014, and nominated for its 2014 Person of the Year. Even got nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2017, and was?called one of the 'world's greatest leaders' by Fortune magazine in 2015.
7. Vic Barrett, USA
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Vic is an undergraduate student at the University of Wisconsin¨CMadison who's marching in solidarity with 400,00 people at the people's climate march in New York City. He started fighting against climate change in high school, working with the social justice group Global Kids. He spoke at the COP21 in Paris and COP24 in Poland UN climate summit, on behalf of the Alliance for Climate Education.
8. John Paul Jose, India
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John Paul Jose is a 22-year-old climate activist, global peace ambassador and writer. He is one of the youth leaders of Fridays For Future in India.?
9. Holly Gillibrand, Scotland
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¡°I like school, I like learning. But I want to have a future that is habitable,¡± says Holly Gillibrand a 13-year-old young ambassador for Scotland who decided to strike each Friday against climate change. She is helping build a UK-based movement of children demanding more action on climate change.
10. Licypriya Kangujam, India
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This 7-year-old who received 'India Peace Prize 2019' and Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Children Award 2019, is from Manipur, India. She has become India¡¯s youngest climate activist. Earlier in 2018, she was invited in the Asian Ministerial Conference For Disaster Risks Reduction, in the Mongolian capital Ulaanbaatar. She started fighting against climate change at the age of 7. She protested at the parliament house for climate justice, urging PM Narendra Modi to enact the climate change law in India.
11. David Wicker, Italy
David Wicker one of the representatives of Fridays for Future in Italy, who brings together groups of students to protest against climate change. ¡°We should have started a while back, when there was still time to discuss it more deeply,¡± says David Wicker. Fridays For Future showed him he could actually start doing something on his own and make his voice heard.
12. Abhirami Manohar, India
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This 16-year-old Kerala-based girl is a passionate nature lover and crusader who has been rallying against the use of single-use plastic pens and water wastage in her school. She was also one of the students who took part in the first ever climate-strike. Organized by a group called Climate Revolutionary, the event at Durbar Hall ground, attracted scores of students and environmental activists who voiced their support to the movement. She urged the students to fight back by saying that they need a future.
13. Xiuhtezcatl Martinez, USA
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This 19-year-old hip-hop artist started fighting against climate change when he was 6 and became a powerful voice on the front lines of a global, youth-led environmental movement. Xiuhtezcatl is educating his generation about climate change by travelling across the nation and many parts of the world. Martinez served on President Obama¡¯s youth council and received the 2013 US Community Service Award, the 2015 Peace First Prize, the 2015 Nickelodeon Halo Award, 2016 Captain Planet Award, and the 2016 Children¡¯s Climate Prize in Sweden. He was also one of the 21 plaintiffs that sued the federal government for their lack of action on climate change.
14. Lilly Platt, The Netherlands
"I will try to pick up plastic... as long as I can" says 9-year-old Lilly Platt who started a war against plastic pollution in her home town in The Netherlands. She gathered plastic littered around in her area and posted pictures on social media to create awareness about the hazards of single-use plastic. Lilly was named Youth Ambassador by the NGO Plastic Coalition.
15. Ridhima Pandey, India
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11-year-old Ridhima Pandey from Uttarakhand is among 16 teenagers who filed a legal complaint to the United Nations, regarding climate change, during the UN?Climate Action Summit on September 23. All 16 teenagers clearly outlined that their human rights were being violated, because of the failure of the governments around the world. Their complaint asked nations to seriously address the climate crisis, and all the petitioners were aged between 8 and 17. It¡¯s quite amazing to witness such a standing at a global platform at such a young age.
16. Xiye Bastida, USA
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This 17 year-old girl received the ¡°Spirit of the UN¡± award in 2018 for fighting against climate change, and bringing the voice of youth to existing grassroots and climate organizations. She started fighting 4 years ago, when she had to move to New York after her hometown in Mexico was flooded. She has been leading most of the strikes in New York City with Fridays For Future.
17. Leah Namugerwa, Uganda
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This 14-year-old is one of the members of Fridays for Future in Uganda, who strikes every Friday for fight against climate change. she started following the path of Greta Thunberg when she saw hunger in northern Uganda due to prolonged drought and landslides in Eastern Uganda, that claimed many lives.
18. Anuna De Wever, Belgium
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This 18-year-old high school student is one of the leaders of protests against climate change in Belgium. "When politicians say 'science does not have all the solutions yet' they mean 'science does not have all the solutions yet to keep living our luxury lives like we do and not destroy planet earth'," she says.?
19. Eyal Weintraub, Argentina
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This 18-year-old organised a protest against climate justice in front of the national congress at Buenos Aires in March, along with his friend Bruno Rodriguez - who is also one of the climate change activists. He believed that his generation has the potential to solve this issue, but it will take cooperation and activism in order to make it happen. He is also a member of J¨®venes Por El Clima Argentina - an organization of youth climate activists in Argentina.
20. Vidit Baya, Udaipur, India
He was in Melbourne last year and participated in protests with diverse people of all ages, to urge the Australian government to take action against climate change. After he came back to India, he started an organisation called 'NO Borders' and wrote an article regarding climate change. He garnered a lot of praise and appreciation from his schoolmates and teachers. He believes that young people across India?will strike for a sustainable future.
21. Greta Thunberg, Sweden
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In August 2018, Greta Thunberg started a school strike for the climate outside the Swedish Parliament accusing her country of not following the Paris Climate Agreement. Needless to say, it evoked a huge response.
Since then, the movement has spread all over the world with over 1,00,000 school children involved in it. The movement is called Fridays For Future.
Despite all these impediments, she never gave up and continued her relentless battle against climate change.
22. Autumn Peltier, Canada
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This 15-year-old has been fighting against climate change and water wastage since she was eight. She confronted Prime Minister Justin Trudeau about the water crisis in Canada, at the assembly of First Nations annual winter meeting. She has been nominated for several awards, has spoken before world leaders, and has been fighting for water rights alongside her elders.
