Yesterday I was asked by an amazing group of youth from around the globe to help open a people's plenary, this is the text version of the speech I gave. 

 

Twenty years ago I was six years old, twenty years ago this conference told the world that it would protect my future.  Taking stock, the reality is grim. We have had twenty years of climate change, twenty years of pillaging the oceans, twenty years of deforestation, twenty years of failing to enshrine the rights of all to food, to clean water, and other basic human rights.  We have had twenty years where big polluters have been given carte blanche on our planet, where greed has won out over green, and where the term crisis has become daily parlance for our economies, our planet and people around the globe.  Years ago, Utah Philips said that "our planet is not dying, it is being killed, and the people killing it have names and addresses". The same is true today, Rio+20 is not simply failing, it is being held down and held back because our leaders are listening to polluters and profits, not people.  The Rio+20 text fails to move the planet forward, it is a failure of vision and a failure of ambition.  We reject this text, we reject it because it promises nothing except business as usual. We reject it because we were promised leaps and bounds forward and we are being presented with a text that fails to move even inches towards a better world.  Right now is the moment to see who is simply a politician here in Rio, and who is a leader.  Leaders listen to the people, not polluters.  We all know that another world is possible. But if business as usual continues, another planet will be necessary.  This is your chance to see that the solutions to climate, environmental and economic crises do exist, the people are building them each and every day. Join us for the People's Plenary, and join the whole world by going back into those rooms and living up to your promises.  The whole world is watching to see, as Brittany so perfectly put it, will you save face, or save us.