Remember Greta Thunberg; the 16-year-old Swedish climate change activist that powerful old men seem to hate? She caught the world’s attention with her impassioned pleas for policy changes that would help ameliorate the impact of human activities upon our climate. Now there is nine-year-old Licypriya Kangujam of Manipur who champions the same environmental cause. She stresses that she is not ‘India's Greta’ because she has her own story. Licypriya has some advice for Indian schools which we would do well to heed.
There were many events that informed the views of this young activist. She was just five when she heard about the terrible Nepal earthquake; when she joined her father in raising funds for relief. Thereafter, she moved to Delhi; the smog-clogged air here would have been a nasty surprise to anyone. Thereafter cyclones Fani and Titli impacted her young mind when her own home was damaged by extreme weather events.
Like her Swedish counterpart, this little girl has protested her position outside the parliament. She has addressed hundreds of institutions by travelling to over 30 countries to speak out about climate change and to raise awareness. At a personal level, Licypriya has given up eating meat and tries to minimize food wastage, uses public transport and avoids air travel as far as possible. This year, she became the youngest person to receive the TN Khoshoo Memorial Award. She started The Child Movement an organisation that aims to educate people about the devastating impacts of climate change.
Licypriya has some advice for India’s school system. She has been demanding strong climate change legislation and also suggests that each school student should plant ten trees each year. Licypriya thinks that climate change should be introduced in school curricula to explain to kids what impact human activity has on the earth.
So what’s new? After all school kids are already learning subjects such as EVS in school. They already know the importance of reducing pollution and planting trees. But, here’s the thing – at a time when climate change has become a political football that many countries/leaders use as per their requirement, kids need to learn about the science behind climate change. We’ve had world leaders who deny climate change simply because it is expedient and because it suits their political ambitions and ideologies.
Students need to know about and understand the science behind climate change. They ought to be made to understand that while part of the climate change that we see is natural, much of it is the result of human activities. There is no doubt that human activities pollute the air, the soil and water; that they exacerbate extreme weather events such as floods, cyclones and higher temperatures. Becoming aware of this link between human activity/ habits and climate change at a young age makes kids more conscious of the impacts of their own actions and those of people around. They can learn the three Rs of Reduce, Reuse and Recycle early in life and make it a habit.
If kids learn the evidence-based science behind climate change it would be more difficult to manipulate and change public perception based on fake news. For instance, there currently there are protests in India as well as in Australia against an Indian corporate entity. This is a company thought to be close to the central government; allegedly granted inordinate favours by the powers that be. Positive PR would try its best to present the company and its activities in a favourable light, which could be misleading. However, if kids were armed with the knowledge about probable negative impacts of mining activities; they would develop more informed opinions. They would be less inclined to be swayed by the PR.
Right now, Licypriya has been coming out in support of farmers who are protesting; urging people not to discredit them or call them terrorists. She also has ideas about reducing pollution and recycling waste. With almost a million followers, she is able to make her voice heard and make people think about doing something to reverse the ill effects of climate change.
So perhaps Licypriya Kangujam’s suggestion about teaching about climate change in schools is a good one. Maybe then, the next time when a mother or father is shopping online, their daughter may suggest fewer purchases or may suggest purchases from a more environmentally aware entity.
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