Tamil-Canadian student makes headlines over climate change speech

07 January 2012
At last month’s International Climate Change Talks in South Africa, Tamil-Canadian student Anjali Appadurai made headlines when she delivered a powerful speech urging world leaders to take action over climate change.

Her speech which has clocked up tens of thousands of views on YouTube, has won the praise of Amy Goodman, host of Democracy Now!, and award winning author Naomi Kleinwho tweeted;

“Anjali Appadurai is a hero, watch her brilliant speech that rocked the climate summit in Durban”

Speaking on behalf of youth delegates at the conference, Ms Appadurai started her speech saying,

“I speak for more than half the world’s population. We are the silent majority. You’ve given us a seat in this hall, but our interests are not on the table.

What does it take to get a stake in this game? Lobbyists? Corporate influence? Money? You’ve been negotiating all my life. In that time, you’ve failed to meet pledges, you’ve missed targets, and you’ve broken promises. But you’ve heard this all before.”

Ending her speech with a fiery “mic check”, she also managed to win the admiration of the the COP Chair of the session Artur Runge-Metzger, who said to applause, 

"I wonder why we let not speak 'half of the world's population' first in this conference, but only last”."

Stepping up to the microphone Ms Appadurai delivered a rousing speech, proclaiming,

“Respect the foundational principles of this convention. Respect the integral values of humanity. Respect the future of your descendants. Mandela said, "It always seems impossible, until it’s done."

So, distinguished delegates and governments around the world, governments of the developed world, deep cuts now. Get it done.”

The 21-year old Tamil Canadian student, who cites Arundhati Roy as one of her heroes, is currently a student at College of the Atlantic in Bar harbour, USA.

See an interview with Ms Appadurai below.

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Young Indo-Canadian Woman Shines At UN Climate Summit

Saturday, December 17th, 2011

Anjali Appadurai, a former student of Gleneagle Secondary in Coquitlam, who is now a third-year student at College of the Atlantic (COA) in Maine, stepped up to the microphone and challenged the Climate change delegates in Durban, South Africa to put aside what she called short-sighted ambitions in order to set long-term goals to fight climate change. Andrew Revkin of the New York Times called the speech “remarkable,” while author Naomi Klein called Appadurai “a hero” on Twitter. Appadurai, who is back home in Surrey, was one of nine delegates from COA.

By Amy Goodman

“You’ve been negotiating all my life,” Anjali Appadurai told the plenary session of the U.N.‘s 17th “Conference of Parties,” or COP 17, the official title of the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Durban, South Africa. Appadurai, a student at the ecologically focused College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor, Maine, addressed the plenary as part of the youth delegation. She continued: “In that time, you’ve failed to meet pledges, you’ve missed targets, and you’ve broken promises. But you’ve heard this all before.”

After she finished her address, she moved to the side of the podium, off microphone, and in a manner familiar to anyone who has attended an Occupy protest, shouted into the vast hall of staid diplomats, “Mic check!” A crowd of young people stood up, and the call-and-response began:

Appadurai: “Equity now!”

Crowd: “Equity now!”

Appadurai: “You’ve run out of excuses!”

Crowd: “You’ve run out of excuses!”

Appadurai: “We’re running out of time!”

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Crowd: “We’re running out of time!”

Appadurai: “Get it done!”

Crowd: “Get it done!”

That was Friday, at the official closing plenary session of COP 17. The negotiations were extended, virtually nonstop, through Sunday, in hopes of avoiding complete failure. At issue were arguments over words and phrases—for instance, the replacement of “legal agreement” with “an agreed outcome with legal force,” which is said to have won over India to the Durban Platform.

The countries in attendance agreed to a schedule that would lead to an agreement by 2015, which would commit all countries to reduce emissions starting no sooner than 2020, eight years into the future.

Courtesy Nationofchange!