Translator: Michele Gianella Reviewer: Cecilia Bernabeni
[Action Calls, Generates, Creates, Inspires Action]
[The countdown leaves no way out]
[We can stop climate change]
I am Margot Gomis, and I am 19 years old.
And I am wondering why I am here today.
Maybe you're wondering, as well.
Like I said, I'm a 19-year-old girl;
and since Greta Thumberg made everyone talk about herself,
it's a bit fashionable
to give the floor to us, young people on climate change issues.
And being given the floor,
in a country where the floor is so rarely given,
is very important:
but it is even more so to be able to talk and address these issues together.
Today I tell you how I do it.
And for that, you need to know
where my interest and passion for nature came from.
Everything depends on the gift of sight.
I grew up with both blind parents,
and this greatly affected my childhood.
When I was little, my mother asked me to describe the landscapes,
during our mountain walks or train journeys.
That they were very frequent, because I lived in France
and we often did the Chambéry-Milan route.
So I had a chance to notice
how the landscape changed between seasons.
The month that struck me the most was May,
because you could see endless shades of green,
few trees with still flowers and mountains still white.
Every time I wanted to provide my Mum with more and more accurate descriptions.
So I asked for various children's books
on plants and animals;
and so that's where my love for nature came from.
Over time, as I grew older, I heard about
global warming and climate change;
but I didn't think they were problems I should deal with;
I thought they were problems that adults had to deal with,
and not us young people.
However, I collected my wastes separately;
I yelled at my friends when they did not do it;
I tried not to waste water,
or not to eat meat that was bred in a certain way.
But I never tried to commit.
to tackle this problem concretely,
because, just like I said, I thought it wasn't my duty.
Everything changed
when my science professor signed me up for a project:
"B-Corp school".
He explained that these projects, designed precisely for schools,
allow us students
to get in touch with the world of sustainability,
trying to create start-ups
starting from an environmental problem.
We were divided in ten groups,
and mine had to deal with pollution
in terms of personal mobility.
And when it comes to getting involved, I'm not shy at all;
so, as soon as I arrived, I started researching, working.
So my team mates picked me as a speaker right away,
and it was my job to introduce the issue,
and how we were going to deal with it.
My team designed "RentEco"
a site allowing travellers to rent
sustainable vehicles,
through an application with a geolocation system.
And see, after the experience with the vehicle,
how much CO2 and other greenhouse gases they avoided emitting,
compared to a traditional vehicle.
So, the purpose of this start-up
was to awake in customers
almost an ecological consciousness,
to make them understand how important and how decisive pollution was
in terms of personal mobility.
Although my start-up did not win,
I had the opportunity to know and deepen my relationships
with the organizers of the event,
and above all to understand
that I had the ability to commit concretely
against pollution.
I was then invited to another 20 B-Corp Schools and B-Corps.
willing and intending to make people understand
which in addition to profit it is also very important
create a positive atmosphere for workers,
and respect the environment around us.
When drafting the speech, I didn't know what to say,
given my young age
and my ignorance of some environmental issues.
Then I realized, I could donate my experience.
And this is what I understood,
when growing from
a passive to an active and committed life.
So the message I wanted to leave,
and that I want to leave today,
is that we young people can and must be part of this change.
But not only through protests,
which serve only to raise people's awareness;
but also through concrete actions.
Changing our habits,
being an example for our parents and the people around us;
organising events with schools,
the support for education.
So, from there start teaching what sustainability is
and how to respect the environment around us.
We young people are creative, we have the skills,
we are not afraid of novelty and diversity;
but precisely because, since we are still growing,
we get used to change more easily.
And this is proved by the fact that
we young people are the protagonists of many struggles,
not only against pollution
but also against racial discrimination,
gender and sexual orientation.
This is about our future, and what we want it to be like.
Human beings have done everything to improve their quality of life:
building houses, inventing machinery
and introducing any possible comfort.
But I'm not here today to judge that.
And obviously I'm talking about people
that do not face issues every day such as hunger and poverty.
This progress was possible
thanks to scientific, industrial and technological revolutions,
which, however, did not take into account
of the impact this irresponsible change would have on the environment.
Therefore, progress per se is not necessarily positive.
Progress must allow man
to live in harmony with the surrounding nature.
So it's up to us young and old, all together,
to bring about a new Scientific Revolution,
a new Industrial Revolution
sustainability-oriented as well.
I am an Environmental Sciences student
at La Sapienza University in Rome,
and I decided to undertake this training course
because I want to be a part of this revolution.
Finally, it's up to us, young, old,
to all of us who represent and support this change,
so that people of all generations get
that it is worth changing your life for.
And by that I mean:
enough for consumerism, selfishness, disrespect,
for us, for others, and for the planet we live on.
We must be pure energy for Earth,
we must remember that human beings
were always and always will be, part of nature;
that their home is the planet they live on,
and that their family are the other living beings.
I am Margot Gomis, I am 19 years old,
and I'm here because I represent the future of this planet.
And so I have the right, and the duty, to defend it.
Thank you.
(Applause)