Severn Suzuki and THE One tight slap
Author : Amit
It was the year 1992 and Severn Suzuki was a 12 year old kid. She raised money with the members of the Environmental Children’s organization (ECO) and attended the United Nation’s Earth Summit in Rio De Janeiro. She gave a six minutes speech there which received a standing ovation from the delegates of the various countries. According to her, a few of them cried too. Her speech was nothing less than a one tight slap on the face of all the “Adults” who think that spending money on War related activities and developing new weapons is more important than spending it to remove poverty and illiteracy and on environmental Issues. Her speech was hard hitting but whether it lead to some action or not was something Severn herself wrote 10 years later in a Special Report in the TIME called “The young can’t wait”. An excerpt -
I spoke for six minutes and received a standing ovation. Some of the delegates even cried. I thought that maybe I had reached some of them, that my speech might actually spur action. Now, a decade from Rio, after I’ve sat through many more conferences, I’m not sure what has been accomplished. My confidence in the people in power and in the power of an individual’s voice to reach them has been deeply shaken.
You can read the full report here.
This is the video of the speech. Don’t miss the expressions on the faces of the delegates.
You can read her speech here.
Since her bold foray in the UN Summit, Severn has been an active environmental activist, speaker, television host and an author. She is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Ethnoecology. Severn set an example for the young generation and the adults too. She was so much aware of what was happening around her at such a small age and was not afraid to tell the adults what she felt about it.
(The photograph is taken from Wikipedia)
this post is a very inspiring one,more the reason we work together
I really want to make a difference! But my parents and friends say whatever we do does’nt matter and the government should take actions on it. Keep up the good work and i’ll try my best and i hope we can make a difference.
Does anyone know how I can get a copy of Severn’s original speech (as a child) to show my students. Thanks. Ann Goetting
Wow! what a courage! what a presentation! Excellent speech! But nothing turned out is sounds bad
I never ever post but this time I will,Thanks alot for the great blog.
I find it hard to believe that 17 yrs since the speech and we still haven’t even begun to repair the damage that we have done. Thank you for trying to make this a better world for my child and your generation , and the generations to come. Al Gore won a Nobel peace prize for a slide show he did not really do himself , but a child that stands up for the generations to come get nothing. Am I the only one failing to find the justice in that?