The emotional testimony of Severn Suzuki, a Canadian thirteen year old girl, at the United Nations: then far-sighted words, now an urgent reality.

Severn Suzuki is a thirteen year old girl who spoke at the United Nations out of fear for the future and the health of planet Earth. Filmed more than fifteen years ago, her words still resonate with the fears that we still have today.
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“In spite of my fear, I am not afraid to change the world in the way I believe it should be changed”.
These words were spoken by a thirteen year old girl, the spokesperson of an environmental group called ECO, at the United Nations. During her speech, she moved and captivated her audience with her firmness, clarity, and farsightedness. But then we forgot about them. Today, I would like to try once more.
Severn’s speech was political and not technical. It was through this approach that made the whole world stop and think, and it is because of this that her speech is still extraordinary and relevant.
The video speaks about the future. It underlines the fear of a future that could no longer exist, and what we should be fighting for to prevent this from happening. The price of our future, of the technological change, is in the resources that we consume in order to generate wealth. We must first think about the sometimes irreversible changes before we proceed any further. And if we are making our ecosystem pay too high of a price, we should ask ourselves if we need to slow down and think about alternative solutions.
Bob Dylan says in his song, “The Times They Are a-Changin’”, “Come mothers and fathers throughout the land. And don’t criticize what you can’t understand”. I am a father. Like many of you will do, watching this video I imagined my children asking the same questions that Severn posed, and I thought that her response was the best one that we could give: “In spite of my fear, I am not afraid to change the world in the way I believe it should be changed”.
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