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A number of protests are being held today at the climate change conference
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to protest the failure of world leaders
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to agree to immediately agree to a deal of binding emissions cuts.
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Earlier today, Anjali Appadurai, a student at the College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor, Maine,
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addressed the conference on behalf of youth delegates.
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I’d now like to give the floor to Miss Anjali Appadurai with College of the Atlantic,
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who will speak on behalf of youth non-governmental organizations.
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Miss Appadurai, you have the floor.
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I speak for more than half the world’s population.
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We are the silent majority.
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You’ve given us a seat in this hall,
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but our interests are not on the table.
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What does it take to get a stake in this game?
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Lobbyists? Corporate influence? Money?
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You’ve been negotiating all my life.
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In that time, you’ve failed to meet pledges,
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you’ve missed targets, and you’ve broken promises.
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But you’ve heard this all before.
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We’re in Africa, home to communities on the front line of climate change.
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The world’s poorest countries need funding for adaptation now.
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The Horn of Africa and those nearby in KwaMashu needed it yesterday.
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But as 2012 dawns, our Green Climate Fund remains empty.
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The International Energy Agency tells us
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we have five years until the window to avoid irreversible climate change closes.
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The science tells us that we have five years maximum.
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You’re saying, "Give us 10."
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The most stark betrayal of your generation’s responsibility to ours
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is that you call this "ambition."
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Where is the courage in these rooms?
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Now is not the time for incremental action.
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In the long run, these will be seen as the defining moments of an era
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in which narrow self-interest prevailed
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over science, reason and common compassion.
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There is real ambition in this room,
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but it’s been dismissed as radical, deemed not politically possible.
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Stand with Africa.
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Long-term thinking is not radical.
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What’s radical is to completely alter the planet’s climate,
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to betray the future of my generation,
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and to condemn millions to death by climate change.
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What’s radical is to write off the fact that change is within our reach.
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2011 was the year in which the silent majority found their voice,
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the year when the bottom shook the top.
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2011 was the year when the radical became reality.
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Common, but differentiated, and historical responsibility are not up for debate.
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Respect the foundational principles of this convention.
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Respect the integral values of humanity.
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Respect the future of your descendants.
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Mandela said,
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"It always seems impossible, until it’s done."
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So, distinguished delegates and governments around the world,
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governments of the developed world:
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Deep cuts now !
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Get it done !
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Mic check!
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Equity now!
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Equity now!
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You’ve run out of excuses!
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We’re running out of time!
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Get it done!
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Get it done!
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Thank you, Miss Appadurai,
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who was speaking on behalf of half of the world’s population,
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I think she said at the beginning.
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And on a purely personal note,
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I wonder why we let not speak half of the world’s population
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first in this conference, but only last.
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That was a speech by Anjali Appadurai here in Durban at the U.N. climate change talks.
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Just after her speech, as you heard, she led a mic check from the stage,
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a move inspired by the Occupy Wall Street protests around the world.
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This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report.
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I’m Amy Goodman, as we broadcast live from Durban, South Africa. Back in a moment.