Respected Principal, teachers and my dear friends,
Today I want to speak on the greatest challenge of our times — climate change. It is no longer a distant warning of scientists; it is here, in our own summers and rains.
The earth is growing warmer every year. Temperatures are rising, the glaciers of the Himalayas and the ice of the poles are melting, the seas are rising, and long droughts are followed by sudden floods. Farmers in our own district wait for rain that does not come and then lose their crop in a single night of heavy rain.
The cause is us. Human activities — the smoke of vehicles and factories, the burning of coal and oil, and reckless deforestation — pour carbon dioxide into the air and cut down the very trees that clean it. We cannot blame nature for a fever that we ourselves have caused.
The remedy must work at two levels. At the world level, nations must co-operate — honour their promises to cut emissions, share clean technology and help poor countries. At the local level, each of us must act : plant and protect trees, save water and electricity, use public transport and cycles, refuse plastic and segregate waste.
And it is we, the youth, who must lead. We are not the future citizens; we are the citizens of today. Let our school be a green school, our street a plastic-free street. If every young person becomes an environmental warrior, the earth still has a chance.
Thank you.
