Licypriya Kangujam Urges World Leaders to Act on Climate at 80th UNGA

13-year-old climate activist Licypriya Kangujam from Manipur, India, addressed world leaders at the 80th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) High-Level Side Event.

Speaking via a pre-recorded video due to visa delays, Licypriya’s message was anything but distant.

As the Founder of the Child Movement and Special Envoy for the President of Timor-Leste, she passionately called for urgent climate action, emphasizing that the crisis is already devastating lives—especially children’s. “Floods wash away schools, storms snatch away homes, and drought steals the food from our plates,” she said, painting a vivid picture of the global emergency.

Her speech demanded climate justice, particularly for nations in the Global South, and urged leaders to transform the Loss and Damage Fund into real support for victims of climate disasters in India, Bangladesh, Mozambique, and the Horn of Africa.

Licypriya also warned that the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are unattainable on a planet in crisis. “The SDGs cannot be achieved on a planet that is burning,” she declared, linking climate action directly to global development.

She concluded with a challenge to leaders: “When you return home from this assembly, look into the eyes of your children and grandchildren. Ask yourself: Are you leaving them a world worth living in?” Her final words—“The time for my speeches is over; but the time for action is now”—echoed as a rallying cry for global responsibility.