“How dare you,” Greta Thunberg said to world leaders at the UN. “You have stolen my dreams and my childhood.”
The 16-year-old Swedish activist’s scalding words echoed around the world with school students going on strike to demand real action on the climate crisis. A historic Global Climate Strike, led by children, began on September 21. In New Delhi, it will conclude on September 27 with a march to the Prime Minister’s office.
Children have no patience for world leaders sitting in centrally air-conditioned, closed-room meetings in New York, and rightly so. They chose another route. Taking to the streets with placards. And they also made good use of a tool that climate activists once upon a time did not have — social media.
On September 23, student strikers, some as young as 10, stormed Twitter, tweeting their demands. For all those who believe children are “too young” to understand climate change, these young Twitter champions proved them wrong! Their Tweets were well studied, nuanced and included perspectives that all of us should be thinking about, from economic loss, mounting health concerns, gender justice, and more.
What about the solution by the government on the garbage dump yard? Eg Ghazipur dump yard #youthforclimate
— SHOME BASU (@shomebasu) September 23, 2019
India could loose workplace productivity equivalent of 34 million jobs in 2030 due to global warming: @ILO report. How are we mitigating the #ClimateCrisis @PMOIndia @moefccc @youthkiawaaz #YouthForClimate
— Kulesh Vandan (@Kulesh_Vandan) September 23, 2019
We are in the midst of the 6th mass extinction. There is no time to think – only to act and SUCCEED!@YouthKiAwaaz @WhyOnEarthYKA #youthforclimate pic.twitter.com/DlNOKw1lIT
— Aman Sharma (@AmanSha23) September 23, 2019
Louder for the people in the back! #YouthForClimate https://t.co/LJ9chx3gzg
— Richa Tyagi (@rich_112) September 23, 2019
Air
Water
Earth
What has the current generation not destroyed ? @PrakashJavdekar @PMOIndia @ShashiTharoor we want answers @veerojas20 @LetMeBreathe_In @AnandiManya @PFF_India #youthforclimate @ravishndtv @climateactionGG— Climate Action Gurugram (@ClimateActionGG) September 23, 2019
Over 2.7 million people were displaced internally in India due to extreme weather events in 2018. Are we building capacity in less affected areas to meet the population burden @PMOIndia @moefccc @MOHUA_India @youthkiawaaz #YouthForClimate
— Yashwant Chauhan (@boomboxbanter) September 23, 2019
How aware is the youth of South Asian region as such when it comes to climate change? #YouthForClimate
— NAYANIMA BASU (@NayanimaBasu) September 23, 2019
There should not be a term called a youth climate activist. Isn’t it shameful that children have to miss school and take to the streets in protests to ask for a – liveable planet???!@YouthKiAwaaz @WhyOnEarthYKA #youthforclimate @fridays_india @IndiaRebellion
— Aman Sharma (@AmanSha23) September 23, 2019
India needs to commit to tougher climate targets and faster transitions to renewable energy. How is the government planning to bring this into action? Can we hope to see more action than words pls ??? @PrakashJavdekar @letmebreathe_in #YouthForClimate #PollutionStories pic.twitter.com/QKhQca656r
— Asees&Asheer (@AseesAsheer) September 23, 2019
When you’ve forced a school student to demand his very survival in the face of an existential disaster, things have gone far enough. Is progress and development worth this? #WhyOnEarth #YouthForClimate https://t.co/2LEClrJI6x
— WhyOnEarth (@WhyOnEarthYKA) September 23, 2019
Delhi has significant air and water pollution problems that authorities are trying to mitigate. How can the youth get involved to collectively find a solution? @narendramodi @YouthKiAwaaz #YouthForClimate
— OneStepGreener (@StepGreener) September 23, 2019
Air pollution in different Indian cities is leading to chronic health ailments. It is not an invisible killer anymore, we recognise it. What policy measures can we look at to prevent this? @letmebreathe_in #YouthForClimate #PollutionStories @ClimateActionGG @veerojas20
— PC (@pcforcauses) September 23, 2019
छोटे शहरों में ‘प्लास्टिक बैग्स’ बहुत बड़ी चुनौती है, जहां कई दफा इसे बैन करने के बाद भी ज़िला स्तर पर भ्रष्ट अधिकारियों के कारण धड़ल्ले से इसका प्रयोग किया गया।आइए #YKA की मुहिम के साथ जुड़कर इसके खिलाफ आवाज़ बुलंद करें। @PMOIndia #YouthForClimate #WhyOnEarth @YKAHindi
— कुमार प्रिंस मुख़र्जी (@cnm_prince) September 23, 2019
Nearly 67 million tonnes of food is wasted in India every year, a key contributor to #ClimateChange. How will India mitigate the issue of food surpluses in the coming years? @MOFPI_GOI @narendramodi @youthkiawaaz #YouthForClimate @cl
— PC (@pcforcauses) September 23, 2019
India incurs losses of approximately Rs62,000 crore annually due to extreme weather events. What is our plan to address this? @narendramodi @DrSJaishankar @youthkiawaaz #YouthForClimate
— anamus (@_anamus) September 23, 2019
I think one thing we need to do is to go to communities that are disadvantaged or facing eco racism & bring their stories to the forefront.Every stakeholder needs to have a say on development on their ancestral land and the impact it will have on their culture and ways of living! pic.twitter.com/RFdoSjk20l
— Aman Sharma (@AmanSha23) September 24, 2019
Lokayat, #FridaysForFuture,Pune
Organised #ClimateStrike.
1000+ youth, songs, slogans and rain.
It was awesome.
Next time we will be 10000+.#ClimateChange#YouthForClimate#ClimateChangeIsReal #climate #ClimateActionSummit pic.twitter.com/xv7v82MLqI— LOKAYAT (@lokayat) September 23, 2019
The Climate Crisis is not an elitist crisis. It is a basic human rights crisis, with resident notions of discrimination, eco racism, slavery and colonialism!
Wake up from this slumber!@YouthKiAwaaz @WhyOnEarthYKA #youthforclimate— Aman Sharma (@AmanSha23) September 23, 2019
Psst, that last tweet by young environment activist Aman Sharma (who got over 3,00,000 people to sign his petition demanding the government declare a climate emergency) was picked up by the international media organisation AJ+ too!
Inspiring is an understatement.
With over 1,000 tweets from Indian children, journalists, and you, the Youth Ki Awaaz community, the Twitter Storm trended at 2nd place in New Delhi!
And, like Greta’s speeches, these voices will echo too.
As the children have rightly pointed out, the climate crisis is everyone’s problem, and it’s everyone’s responsibility to act now. You can support these young changemakers.
Check out our Tweet Sheet, and tweet directly to India’s decision makers.
Make your voice reach Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Environment Minister Prakash Javdekar, state chief ministers, and other public representatives.