Hello. I'm Severn Suzuki, speaking for ECO, the Environmental Children's Organization. We are a group of 12 and 13 year olds trying to make a difference: Vanessa Suttie, Morgan Geisler, Michelle Quigg, and me. We've raised all the money to come here ourselves, to come 5,000 miles to tell you adults you must change your ways.
Coming up here today, I have no hidden agenda. I am fighting for my future.
Coming up here today, I have no hidden agenda. I am fighting for my future.
Losing my future is not like losing an election or a few points on the stock market. I am here to speak for all generations to come. I am here to speak on behalf of the starving children around the world whose cries go unheard. I am here to speak for the countless animals dying across this planet because they have nowhere left to go. I am afraid to go out in the sun now because of the holes in our ozone. I am afraid to breathe the air because I don't know what chemicals are in it. I used to go fishing in Vancouver - my home - with my dad, until just a few years ago we found the fish full of cancers. And now we hear of animals and plants going extinct every day, vanishing forever.
In my life, I have dreamt of seeing the great herds of wild animals, jungles and rainforests, full of birds and butterflies, but now I wonder if they will even exist for my children to see. Did you have to worry of these things when you were my age? All this is happening before our eyes and yet we act as if we have all the time we want and all the solutions. I'm only a child, and I don't have all the solutions. I want you to realize, neither do you. You don't know how to fix the holes in our ozone layer. You don't know how to bring the salmon back up a dead stream. You don't know how to bring back an animal now extinct. And you can't bring back the forest that once grew where there is now a desert.
If you don't know how to fix it, please stop breaking it.
Here you may be delegates of your government, business-people, organizers, reporters or politicians. But really you are mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, aunts and uncles, and all of you are someone's child. I am only a child, yet I know we are all part of a family 5 billion strong. In fact, 30 million species strong. And borders and governments will never change that. I am only a child, yet I know that we're all in this together and should act as one single world towards one single goal. In my anger, I am not blind, and in my fear, I am not afraid of telling the world how I feel. In my country, we make so much waste. We buy and throw away, buy and throw away, buy and throw away, and yet Northern countries will not share with the needy. Even when we have more than enough, we are afraid to share. We are afraid to let go of some of our wealth.
In Canada, we live the privileged life with plenty of food, water and shelter. We have watches, bicycles, computers and television sets. The list could go on for two days. Two days ago here in Brazil, we were shocked when we spent time with some children living on the streets. This is what one child told us, "I wish I was rich. And if I were, I would give all the street children food, clothes, medicines, shelter, and love and affection. If a child on the streets who has nothing is willing to share, why are we who have everything still so greedy? I can't stop thinking that these are children my own age; that it makes a tremendous difference where you are born; that I could be one of the children living in the favelas of Rio. I could be a child starving in Somalia, or a victim of war in the Middle East or a beggar in India. I am only a child, yet I know that if all the money spent on war was spent on finding environmental answers, ending poverty and finding treaties, what a wonderful place this Earth would be.
At school, even in kindergarten, you teach us how to behave in the world. You teach us to not fight with others. To work things out. To respect others. To clean up our mess. Not to hurt other creatures. To share, not be greedy. Then why do you go out and do the things you tell us not to do? Do not forget why you are attending these conferences - who you are doing this for. We are your own children. You are deciding what kind of world we are growing up in.
Parents should be able to comfort their children by saying "Everything's going to be all right. It's not the end of the world. And we're doing the best we can." But I don't think you can say that to us anymore. Are we even on your list of priorities? My dad always says "You are what you do, not what you say." Well, what you do makes me cry at night. You grown-ups say you love us, but I challenge you, please make your actions reflect your words.
Thank you.
Here you may be delegates of your government, business-people, organizers, reporters or politicians. But really you are mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, aunts and uncles, and all of you are someone's child. I am only a child, yet I know we are all part of a family 5 billion strong. In fact, 30 million species strong. And borders and governments will never change that. I am only a child, yet I know that we're all in this together and should act as one single world towards one single goal. In my anger, I am not blind, and in my fear, I am not afraid of telling the world how I feel. In my country, we make so much waste. We buy and throw away, buy and throw away, buy and throw away, and yet Northern countries will not share with the needy. Even when we have more than enough, we are afraid to share. We are afraid to let go of some of our wealth.
In Canada, we live the privileged life with plenty of food, water and shelter. We have watches, bicycles, computers and television sets. The list could go on for two days. Two days ago here in Brazil, we were shocked when we spent time with some children living on the streets. This is what one child told us, "I wish I was rich. And if I were, I would give all the street children food, clothes, medicines, shelter, and love and affection. If a child on the streets who has nothing is willing to share, why are we who have everything still so greedy? I can't stop thinking that these are children my own age; that it makes a tremendous difference where you are born; that I could be one of the children living in the favelas of Rio. I could be a child starving in Somalia, or a victim of war in the Middle East or a beggar in India. I am only a child, yet I know that if all the money spent on war was spent on finding environmental answers, ending poverty and finding treaties, what a wonderful place this Earth would be.
At school, even in kindergarten, you teach us how to behave in the world. You teach us to not fight with others. To work things out. To respect others. To clean up our mess. Not to hurt other creatures. To share, not be greedy. Then why do you go out and do the things you tell us not to do? Do not forget why you are attending these conferences - who you are doing this for. We are your own children. You are deciding what kind of world we are growing up in.
Parents should be able to comfort their children by saying "Everything's going to be all right. It's not the end of the world. And we're doing the best we can." But I don't think you can say that to us anymore. Are we even on your list of priorities? My dad always says "You are what you do, not what you say." Well, what you do makes me cry at night. You grown-ups say you love us, but I challenge you, please make your actions reflect your words.
Thank you.
( NOTE: When she was 12, Severn Suzuki and three Vancouver schoolmates raised money to go to the United Nations Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, 1992. Her speech to delegates had such an impact that she became a frequent invitee to U.N. conferences.)
NEGOTIATIONS
'The Girl Who Silenced the World' returns to Rio
Twenty years ago, a 12-year-old girl took the
podium at the U.N. Conference on Environ-
ment and Development in Rio de Janeiro and
told a room full of world leaders that they
were failing her.
podium at the U.N. Conference on Environ-
ment and Development in Rio de Janeiro and
told a room full of world leaders that they
were failing her.
"Coming here today, I have no hidden agenda.
I am fighting for my future. Losing my future is
not like losing an election or a few points on the
stock market. I am here to speak for all
generations to come," she said.
I am fighting for my future. Losing my future is
not like losing an election or a few points on the
stock market. I am here to speak for all
generations to come," she said.
Severn Cullis-Suzuki was only nine when she
and her friends created the Environmental
Children's Organization, or ECO, a group
dedicated to learning about and educating
others on environmental issues. The speech
she delivered just a few years later at the
1992 Earth Summit captured the world's
attention and would in many ways shape her life.
and her friends created the Environmental
Children's Organization, or ECO, a group
dedicated to learning about and educating
others on environmental issues. The speech
she delivered just a few years later at the
1992 Earth Summit captured the world's
attention and would in many ways shape her life.
"Do not forget why you're attending
these conferences, who you're doing
this for. We are your own children.
You are deciding what kind of world
we will grow up in. Parents should
be able to comfort their children by
saying, 'Everything's going to be all
right,' 'We're doing the best we can,'
and 'It's not the end of the world,'"
said Cullis-Suzuki.
"But I don't think you can say that to us anymore,"
she said. "Are we even on your list of
priorities?"
she said. "Are we even on your list of
priorities?"
The year after she gave this talk, Cullis-Suzuki
received the U.N. Environment Programme's
Global 500 Award in Beijing. Over the last two
decades, a video of her speech has made its
rounds on the Internet, earning the now
32-year-old Canadian activist the title
"The Girl Who Silenced the World for 6 Minutes."
received the U.N. Environment Programme's
Global 500 Award in Beijing. Over the last two
decades, a video of her speech has made its
rounds on the Internet, earning the now
32-year-old Canadian activist the title
"The Girl Who Silenced the World for 6 Minutes."
"To take a step back, and not even look at this
as myself but as a phenomenon, seeing a child
speaking
truth to power is a very, very powerful
image and story. And it's something that I've
never received any criticism for, and that blows
my mind," said Cullis-Suzuki in an interview with
ClimateWire.
as myself but as a phenomenon, seeing a child
speaking
truth to power is a very, very powerful
image and story. And it's something that I've
never received any criticism for, and that blows
my mind," said Cullis-Suzuki in an interview with
ClimateWire.
The speech "really cut through a lot of the
rationale we have as adults ... for destroying
the natural world and destroying options for
the future," she said. "Now, as a parent myself,
I understand why people reacted to me, because
I remind them of their own kids, and people love
their own kids."
rationale we have as adults ... for destroying
the natural world and destroying options for
the future," she said. "Now, as a parent myself,
I understand why people reacted to me, because
I remind them of their own kids, and people love
their own kids."
This week, Cullis-Suzuki has returned to Rio
for the U.N. Conference on Sustainable
Development, known as Rio+20, which opens
today. She is teaming up with the Canadian
youth-centered group We Canada to help the next generation of world leaders speak up in
the global dialogue.
Falling off her government's agenda
Cullis-Suzuki is the daughter of writer
Tara Elizabeth Cullis and prominent
Canadian environmental activist
David Suzuki. Having also received a
bachelor of science degree in ecology
and evolutionary biology from Yale
University and a master of science in
ethnoecology from the University of
Victoria, British Columbia, Cullis-Suzuki
is no stranger to the sustainability issues
facing the planet.
Tara Elizabeth Cullis and prominent
Canadian environmental activist
David Suzuki. Having also received a
bachelor of science degree in ecology
and evolutionary biology from Yale
University and a master of science in
ethnoecology from the University of
Victoria, British Columbia, Cullis-Suzuki
is no stranger to the sustainability issues
facing the planet.
She hosts "Samaq'an: Water Stories[["An
examination of the importance of water
includes a look at how industrial develop-
ment is impacting this natural resource,
as well as accounts of what water means
in the lives of everyday people.Premiered:
August 18, 2016]] ,a Canadian television
show about First Nations communities and
water issues. But before that, she served
on the U.N. Earth Charter Commission and
on then-U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan's
Special Advisory Panel for the 2002 World
Summit on Sustainable Development in
Johannesburg, South Africa.
examination of the importance of water
includes a look at how industrial develop-
ment is impacting this natural resource,
as well as accounts of what water means
in the lives of everyday people.Premiered:
August 18, 2016]] ,a Canadian television
show about First Nations communities and
water issues. But before that, she served
on the U.N. Earth Charter Commission and
on then-U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan's
Special Advisory Panel for the 2002 World
Summit on Sustainable Development in
Johannesburg, South Africa.
Cullis-Suzuki said she has grown skeptical
of the top-down approach to negotiations,
but when she was asked to be one of We
Canada's 12 "Champions" on sustainable
development at the Earth Summit, the girl
who always spoke up couldn't say no.
of the top-down approach to negotiations,
but when she was asked to be one of We
Canada's 12 "Champions" on sustainable
development at the Earth Summit, the girl
who always spoke up couldn't say no.
We Canada was launched two years ago
as part of the Canadian Earth Summit
Coalition, an independent nonprofit created
to engage the public in the Rio de Janeiro
conference. Cullis-Suzuki consulted with
the group on its three policy recommend
-ations: to establish a measure of national
progress that includes the natural
environment, to implement a carbon tax
and eliminate fossil fuel subsidies and to
push the government of Canada to add
fair trade to the sustainability agenda.
as part of the Canadian Earth Summit
Coalition, an independent nonprofit created
to engage the public in the Rio de Janeiro
conference. Cullis-Suzuki consulted with
the group on its three policy recommend
-ations: to establish a measure of national
progress that includes the natural
environment, to implement a carbon tax
and eliminate fossil fuel subsidies and to
push the government of Canada to add
fair trade to the sustainability agenda.
The three policy recommendations were
presented in consultations with more than
8,000 youth across the country and
supported in more than 1,200 signed letters
to the federal government. The Canadian
government, however, did not include We
Canada's recommendations in its national
strategy for Rio+20 or meet with civil
society groups to have them shape the
national report, according to Aleksandra Nasteska, We Canada's communications
director.
In response to a petition, the Canadian
Department of Foreign Affairs and
International Trade said that it held
consultations within the federal government,
which is led by a Conservative Party
majority, and opened the strategy
document to a 120-day public review.
Department of Foreign Affairs and
International Trade said that it held
consultations within the federal government,
which is led by a Conservative Party
majority, and opened the strategy
document to a 120-day public review.
The letter does not respond to We
Canada's three policy recommendations
directly. Instead, it referred to the
"increasingly inclusive" nature of U.N.
conferences for how the coalition's
policies could be brought into the zero
draft.
Canada's three policy recommendations
directly. Instead, it referred to the
"increasingly inclusive" nature of U.N.
conferences for how the coalition's
policies could be brought into the zero
draft.
Nasteska said it felt as though the
government was writing them off. "As in,
'You're youth, so there's no reason why
we should listen to you,'" she said.
"There's no commitment to action
or no invitation to meet with us."
government was writing them off. "As in,
'You're youth, so there's no reason why
we should listen to you,'" she said.
"There's no commitment to action
or no invitation to meet with us."
After We Canada presented the
policy recommendations at
regional consultationswith the
U.N. Environment Programme
policy recommendations at
regional consultationswith the
U.N. Environment Programme
and submitted them directly to the Earth
Summit, however, its three ideas were
woven into the primary U.N. negotiating
document, she said.
Overall, the expectations for Rio+20 are
not high. The European Union and United
States still face serious economic troubles,
and tensions over the responsibilities of
developed versus developing nations that
plague the U.N.-led climate talks are also
clouding Rio.
not high. The European Union and United
States still face serious economic troubles,
and tensions over the responsibilities of
developed versus developing nations that
plague the U.N.-led climate talks are also
clouding Rio.
Cullis-Suzuki said she is not holding
her breath for world leaders, from Canada
or elsewhere, to instigate meaningful
change at Rio+20. For We Canada, the
main goal is to represent Canadian civil
society and serve as witnesses to the
government's actions. "We need to
challenge them, not just at the summit
but beyond," she said.
her breath for world leaders, from Canada
or elsewhere, to instigate meaningful
change at Rio+20. For We Canada, the
main goal is to represent Canadian civil
society and serve as witnesses to the
government's actions. "We need to
challenge them, not just at the summit
but beyond," she said.
The best outcome of the talks would
be a new sense of momentum behind
sustainability efforts, she said. Support
for action on environmental issues
tanked during the 2008 financial crisis
and has yet to climb back up. Failing
to use this transition period to steer
the world economy in a new direction
would be a missed opportunity, she said.
be a new sense of momentum behind
sustainability efforts, she said. Support
for action on environmental issues
tanked during the 2008 financial crisis
and has yet to climb back up. Failing
to use this transition period to steer
the world economy in a new direction
would be a missed opportunity, she said.
Fighting the Northern Gateway pipeline
Cullis-Suzuki is also looking to shape
Canada's environmental legacy by
engaging in a campaign against the
proposed Enbridge Inc. Northern
Gateway pipeline from the Alberta oil
sands to the coast of British Columbia.
Canada's environmental legacy by
engaging in a campaign against the
proposed Enbridge Inc. Northern
Gateway pipeline from the Alberta oil
sands to the coast of British Columbia.
Where she lives with her husband and
two sons on the Pacific Coast archipelago
of Haida Gwaii, the Haida people,
including Cullis-Suzuki and her family,
live off the land and hunt and fish for
food. To get Canadian bitumen to ports
and ships bound for Asia, the pipeline
would cross 5,000 salmon bearing
streams and create a huge threat to
these fish populations, she said.
two sons on the Pacific Coast archipelago
of Haida Gwaii, the Haida people,
including Cullis-Suzuki and her family,
live off the land and hunt and fish for
food. To get Canadian bitumen to ports
and ships bound for Asia, the pipeline
would cross 5,000 salmon bearing
streams and create a huge threat to
these fish populations, she said.
The national government has pushed
hard for the $5.5 billion project, which
it says would expand Canada's foreign
markets and spur economic growth.
But federal politicians have also limited
public input to only those directly
affected by the pipeline and have
passed new legislation to streamline
environmental reviews that could apply
retroactively to the Northern Gateway
pipeline (ClimateWire, June 5).
hard for the $5.5 billion project, which
it says would expand Canada's foreign
markets and spur economic growth.
But federal politicians have also limited
public input to only those directly
affected by the pipeline and have
passed new legislation to streamline
environmental reviews that could apply
retroactively to the Northern Gateway
pipeline (ClimateWire, June 5).
While she hasn't given up on the fight
against the Northern Gateway,
Cullis-Suzuki said that if the
international community doesn't rally
around a new approach to economic
growth, battles over individual
pipelines will keep cropping up while
the planet decays.
against the Northern Gateway,
Cullis-Suzuki said that if the
international community doesn't rally
around a new approach to economic
growth, battles over individual
pipelines will keep cropping up while
the planet decays.
"When I get really overwhelmed, I
take a step back as a biologist and
as an ecologist and say, 'Well, if we
really trash the planet and we really
limit the ecosystems that support us,
life will continue on; evolution will
continue on,'" she said. "Whether or
not the charismatic mega fauna will
survive -- the lions, the tigers, the
elephants and things that occupy a
similar space on the top of the food
web like we do -- that's another question."
take a step back as a biologist and
as an ecologist and say, 'Well, if we
really trash the planet and we really
limit the ecosystems that support us,
life will continue on; evolution will
continue on,'" she said. "Whether or
not the charismatic mega fauna will
survive -- the lions, the tigers, the
elephants and things that occupy a
similar space on the top of the food
web like we do -- that's another question."
For solutions, Cullis-Suzuki looks
back to her start on the global stage
in the fight for a sustainable future.
back to her start on the global stage
in the fight for a sustainable future.
"We really need to hear from the
youth, because young people,
people under 30, now comprise
over 50 percent of the world's
population, and yet they have so
little decision making power," said
Cullis-Suzuki. "We need them to rise
up and remind us what it's all about."
youth, because young people,
people under 30, now comprise
over 50 percent of the world's
population, and yet they have so
little decision making power," said
Cullis-Suzuki. "We need them to rise
up and remind us what it's all about."
Severn Suzuki, a 12-year-old from Vancouver, British Columbia, was assigned
to speak to world leaders assembled at the first U.N. conference in Rio de
Janeiro in June 1992. Afterward, she became known as "The Girl Who
Silenced the World for Six Minutes" because heads of state sat in rapt attention
when she described her own encounters with environmental issues, including
water and air pollution and endangered species. Then she asked them:
Silenced the World for Six Minutes" because heads of state sat in rapt attention
when she described her own encounters with environmental issues, including
water and air pollution and endangered species. Then she asked them:
"Did you have to worry about these things at my age?"
Click here to watch the video.
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