Teachers and first-hand experience of facing weather extremes pushed the girl into activism
Photo: @LicypriyaK / X (Twitter) Licypriya Kangujam, the 12-year-old Manipuri climate activist, who recently hogged headlines for creating a furore at the United Nations annual climate change summit this week, said she was “completely frustrated” with the inaction of the world leaders and did the act spontaneously.
On December 11, 2023, Kangujam jumped on the podium during a high-level meeting to protest the continuation of fossil fuels. She said her act was spontaneous, driven by the lack of urgency to tackle climate change.
‘Stop fossil fuel' became a war cry at the COP28 in Dubai; and finally, turned out to be the pivotal component at the final decision that was reached after a prolonged, and often bitter, negotiation burning midnight oil.
“Leaders lie, people die … act now” repeatedly shouted the young Manipuri activist, parading from one end of the podium to the another for close to a minute before sitting on the stage while always holding a poster aloft that reads ‘end fossil fuels; save our planet and our future’. She was subsequently escorted out by a few security staff.
Subsequently, the young girl’s registration batch, along with her mother's, was seized and she was denied further entry in the COP28. Her act was applauded by many present in the meeting room. Kangujam, who joined the Dubai COP in the capacity of a special envoy of the Asian country Timor-Leste, earlier participated in Madrid and Sharm El Sheikh COPs.
‘I jumped into the high-level podium as I was completely frustrated by our leaders doing actually nothing about it (fossil fuel cut) … only lip service and blah blah blah; and I acted spontaneously,” said the girl to this reporter standing outside the COP entry point; alleging that the inaction of the leaders to contain fossil fuel surge would push the world over 1.5 degrees Celsius; and into uncertainty, particularly the vulnerable population.
Licypriya said that she got involved in the climate movement at an early age when her teachers taught her about the perils of neglecting the environment and climate change agendas.
“I was in Odisha and saw the impact of cyclones Titli and Fani on people; now in Delhi I see the impact of heat,” pointed out the youth activist, who has received a lot of support in social media from fellow young activists across the world after the COP protest. While Titli had hit the coastal state in 2018; Fani happened a year after.
She also alleged violation of her right with UN officials seizing her badge and throwing her out of the COP premises. “They even warned that I would not get a badge in any future COP,” said the Manipuri girl; but vouched to attend in the following years as well.
The child protester said that while she “is proud of India’s climate performance overall” but felt that the country can do even better.
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