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Good evening.

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Earlier this year, I did something
I have never done before in my life,

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something I never thought I would do.

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I got arrested.

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(Applause) (Cheers)

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Yep, that's me up there,

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being carried away by four policemen
from Oxford Circus

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during the Extinction Rebellion 
protests this April.

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Now, I suspect that, some of you
may be wondering why on earth

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a respectable, middle-class, 71-year-old,

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(Laughter)

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granny like me would do such a thing,

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especially at a time of life when many
my age are settling into retirement,

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enjoying the grandkids
and maybe planning the odd cruise.

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Well, the answer is really very simple.

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I am afraid, and I am angry.

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I am afraid because I've been
listening to the climate scientists,

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who tell us that time is running out

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to stop this beautiful
Goldilocks planet of ours

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from tipping over into irreversible
climate and ecological disaster.

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I fear for the future
of children now alive,

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let alone those still to be born,
and I am angry, very angry,

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with those in positions of power,
who could do something about it

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but who seem to lack all political will

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and absolutely any sense of urgency.

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If eminent scientists,
whose knowledge I respect,

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tell me that all that I love is in danger,

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well, I'm sorry, I'm going
to do something about it,

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even if it does mean getting
into trouble with the law.

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Now, I suppose at this point I ought
to be giving you some facts and figures,

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but quite honestly, I don't see the point.

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Facts and figures
just don't seem to cut it,

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those same eminent scientists
have been giving us facts and figures

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for decades now,
and nothing seems to change.

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Carbon levels in the atmosphere
continue to rise,

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and the fossil fuel industries continue
to flourish with business as usual.

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Well, OK, I'll just give you one fact.

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The last four years 
have been the hottest ever recorded

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since records began in 1850,

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and 2019 is looking set to top the lot.

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Now, this does not mean, yipee,

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we can all holiday
on the coast of Cornwall.

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No, it means, extreme weather events,

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it means flooding and draughts
and wildfires and dying coral reefs

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and food shortages,

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and thousands, if not millions

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of climate refugees
fleeing their uninhabitable homes.

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Estimates vary over how long we've got

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before we reach that 1.5 degree increase

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in average global temperatures

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beyond which we dare not go.

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Some say we have as much as 10-11 years,

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others a good deal less.

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Whatever the case,
surely there can be no denying

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that we are facing an existential crisis,

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the like of which, humanity
has never faced before.

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That is why I want to use
my TEDx talk tonight

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to call out to my generation,
the baby boomers.

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The school children
are in the streets right now,

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protesting against their stolen futures
and demanding urgent action,

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and we should be with them,
out there with them, in solidarity.

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After all, it has been on our watch
that the worst of all this has happened.

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So, baby boomers,
consider this your call-up.

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We need an army of rebel retirees.

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The earth, your children
and your grandchildren need you.

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Or else one day you might hear
one of them say to you

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'And what did you do
in the climate crisis, Grandma?'

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Now, I'd just like to say a few words
to that younger generation.

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Well, only one word really.

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'Sorry.'

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You have every reason
to be very angry with us.

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All I can say is, that we did not realise
what we were doing at the time.

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But some did,

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and they will have to answer to you
and the court of future generations.

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When I join your youth strikes,
and I read your placards,

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and I hear your impassioned words,
it moves me to tears.

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You and Greta Thunberg
have my total support,

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so please, talk to your parents
and your grandparents.

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Explain to them just what's at stake
and get them to join you on the streets.

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And now, a few words to my sons'
generation, the ones in the middle.

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You have demanding jobs, young families,

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and yes, elderly parents to care for.

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Your lives are busy and stressful,
and time is at a premium.

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But when you do have a moment,

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you must be concerned about
your children's and your own future.

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Why not show your parents this TEDx talk

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and see if you can enlist their support?

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I know that some of you
have taken the very difficult decision

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not to bring children into a dying planet,

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and I really respect that decision,

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though it makes me very sad.

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Others of you do all that you can
to keep your carbon footprint to a minimum

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but have little time for activism.

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I do understand.
I didn't either at your age.

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Allow me to share with you
just a little bit of my story.

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I have to confess that I'm a latecomer
to activism of any kind.

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Although I was a teenager in the '60s,
I never got involved with Ban the Bomb

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or the Greenham Common Women,

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and my very first march
wasn't until 2003 against the Iraq War.

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But during my 50s and 60s,
I have grown increasingly concerned

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about the environment.

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I can't deny that it was my love
of animals that first drew me in.

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I grieved for that poor iconic polar bear
in the melting ice of the Arctic

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and the terrified orangutans
in the burning forests of Indonesia.

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And closer to home,
I mourn our own disappearing wildlife.

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And then, on top of all that,

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there is the sheer
outrageous injustice of it all.

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That those who have done
the least to cause this problem

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are even now suffering its worst effects.

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In 2009, I could bear the pain no longer.

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We moved from France to Bristol,

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just so that I could get engaged
in environmental activism,

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because for me, activism
is the antidote to despair.

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And so for the last 10 years,
I have dedicated myself,

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along with others,
to campaigning for life on earth.

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And that is why I so want to call out
to more of my generation,

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many more, to get on board.

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I love this quotation by Maggie Kuhn.

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She founded the Gray Panthers
in America, and for me it says it all.

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'The old, having the benefit
of life experience,

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time to get things done,

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and the least to lose
by sticking their necks out,

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are in the perfect position to serve
as advocates for the larger public good.

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We must act as the elders of the tribe,

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looking out for the best
interests of the future

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and preserving the precious compact
between the generations.'

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She's right, we do have the benefit
of hard won life experience

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and with it a certain amount of wisdom.

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This is something only
the elderly can offer,

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so let's give up striving to be young.

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This youth-obsessed society of ours,

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now, more than ever,
needs the wisdom of wise elders.

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I will never forget the words
of a young man who said to me

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that when he saw old people lying
on the bridges in London last November,

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he felt as though it gave him
permission to be there.

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Age does confer a certain amount of wisdom
so let's not be afraid to use it.

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We also have something else
that many others do not have:

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time.

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So much so, that some of us feel lonely

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and isolated and lacking in purpose.

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Age UK has estimated

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that there are over 1.3 million
lonely retirees

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in this country at the moment.

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Don't be lonely; get involved.

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Extinction Rebellion
has a group called the XR Elders,

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and in Bristol some of them
call themselves the Aged Agitators.

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Here is a picture of them, marching
through the streets of London this October

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in their splendid silver cloaks.

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They brought dignity and gravitas
to the proceedings,

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and they did not risk arrest.

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(Cheers) (Applause)

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I can promise you, you will never
feel lonely on a demonstration.

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And you never know,
you just might find your tribe.

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Maggie Kuhn also says that we have
little to lose by sticking our necks out,

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and I certainly found that to be true
when I got arrested.

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All that I risked was 12 hours
in the local police station

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and a 70 pound fine.

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The police treated me 
with the greatest kindness and respect.

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Now, I do realise
that as an old, white woman,

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I have a certain privilege here,

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something that not all 
sectors of our society can enjoy,

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so all the more reason to use it.

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Seeing older people, get arrested
has a particularly powerful effect:

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it breaks the stereotype of the activist.

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But of course,
you don't have to get arrested.

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There is so much else
that needs doing behind the scenes.

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There's office work
and catering and legal observing

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and welfare and media and driving.

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So much else.

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But if you do choose to get arrested
and to lay your body on the line,

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it certainly makes an impact.

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In the Native American culture,

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there is something called
the 7th generation principle.

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It holds that for every decision we make,

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we must take into account
its effect on our descendants

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seven generations into the future.

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The elders of the tribe
were the custodians of that principle.

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Sadly, in our mad, materialistic world,
we've lost that role.

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So, let us reclaim our rightful place
as the elders of the tribe,

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and with it find our tribe, our community,

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our sense of identity and purpose.

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We are living in a time

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of unprecedented, dramatic change.

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We, the elders, now more than ever

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have a key role to play
at this crucial time.

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Future generations are counting on us.

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So please join the rebellion,
support the youth strikes

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and do all that you can

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in the remaining active years
you have left to work for a safe earth.

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We owe it to the children,

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to leave them the best possible legacy.

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Indeed, the only thing
they will ever really need,

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a diverse, sustainable
and inhabitable planet.

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(Applause)