How excited would your child be if they saw themselves up on a huge screen at the global climate talks #COP27, telling world leaders they need to do better? Well one of our families from Sydney experienced just that this week, with Scarlet, aged 9, featuring in this short film #KidsFirst
Scarlet, from Sydney is excited she made the final cut.
“I’m really happy that mum told me about this and that the leaders at COP27 will hear my message and the voices from kids around the world. Kid’s have such big ideas, they should listen.”
In the film, she says:
“I’m sending you this message because of all the bad things that have happened, like the drought, the rainbow lorikeets dying, the snowgums and the bushfires. We could have stopped that if we had our eyes opened and you can still stop that! ... I dream of a world with clean air, lots of animals, lots of trees, lots of people doing good things, no plastic, and no more global warming and all those things that come off climate change, no climate change either.”
Our kids really aren’t asking for a lot, are they?
The film is a collaboration between Parents for Future Global and Our Kids Climate and features children aged 4-15 from sixteen countries (Australia, Brazil, Botswana, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria, Poland, South Africa, the Solomon Islands, Tanzania, Togo, the UK and the USA). These children were chosen from over 100 videos sent in.
Fernando, age 11, from the Solomon Islands, tells world leaders:
“I am sending this message because I am worried. We are living on a small island in the Pacific. So if you all don’t fix the problem of climate change. One day we won’t have any place to stay.”
Breaks my heart.
Dr Maria Neira from the World Health Organisation praised mums representing the parent climate movement at the talks in Egypt. In her opening remarks at the video launch, she wasn’t joking when she said:
“Watch out world leaders, the mums are coming”.
You can see her opening remarks here: Dr Maria Neira at #KidsFirst press conference - COP27, Egypt, 2022
You can support Scarlet and children around the world by sending a memo to COP27 from yourself, your kids, or even the family pet! It is comforting to know we have allies at the UN who are watching the rise of parents demanding that our children’s futures be protected from fossil fuels.
You can also sign the parent letter calling for a fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty. The World Health Organisation says ending fossil fuels is the prescription for climate, health and war impacts for the world's children. I agree.
Watch this space for more updates & invitations to join global climate parent happenings.
Leanne Brummell is Australian Parent's for Climate Action's international outreach volunteer