Bristol Climate Change March 29/11/15 – Addressing the Rally

Greenpeace message

On Sunday 29 November 2015, 785,000 people around the world marched to tell their leaders that they wanted them to take action to stop climate change.

This was my speech addressing the rally, which was amazing having people cheering me through my speech:

Message at Bristol Climate March 2015
Photograph taken by and copyright Chris Craig

In Bristol huge numbers turned out to march and listen to the rally on College Green, sending a clear message that Bristol European Green Capital 2015 cares.

http://www.campaigncc.org/climatemarchlondon

I was extremely proud to be amongst those addressing the rally.

Speakers at Bristol Climate Rally 2015
Photograph taken by and copyright Chris Craig

College Green was packed with thousands of people when I stood up to speak. I had just been told that the rally was massively overrunning, so had to cut down what I was saying from 4 minutes to 1 minute. I was petrified enough as it was, without having to give a completely different speech!

My address to the rally seemed to go well, and I got a lovely thank you mention from George Ferguson, Bristol Mayor, who spoke next.

This is what I had planned to say in my 4 minutes:
How teenagers can help save our planet

“Hi, my name is Mya-Rose Craig, I’m 13 years old and I care passionately about our planet. I write a blog called birdgirl about wildlife, conservation and the environment and am a Bristol 2015 Ambassador. I am going to speak about how teenagers can help save our planet. I live south of Bristol and go birding to Chew Valley Lake, but there are lots of places in and around Bristol to get up close to nature.

I know that it’s tough being a teenager today; instead of having fun outside, young people spend their time inside on social media or playing games; it’s not cool to have any kind of “hobby” and liking nature is seen as “nerdy”;

I think it’s really important for teenagers to get connected with nature, so that they care about what is going on around them. You can’t care about saving the environment if you don’t know anything about what is happening to it. My generation are the future and if we want to have a planet, then it is my generation who can save it.
I think the starting point for change is our fantastic science and geography teachers to talk and discuss issues relating to the environment, like the Indonesian fires, caused by palm oil companies.

There are things you can do, like join Bristol Nature Network, who organise lots of conservation events. Also The Wildlife Trust is interested in connecting teenagers with nature with their campaigns “Every Child Wild”.

It is also important that young people get involved in environmental issues. I have found that the more I have learnt about the terrible things that are going on, damaging our world, the more I care and the more I want to change things.

There are lots of Bristol organisations teenagers can get involved with. Beyond GMO campaign against GMO crops; Bristol Friends of the Earth campaign against the pesticides killing our bees and run the Bristol Flexitarianism campaign – join them and become vegetarian 1-2 days a week, to reduce the impact of cattle ranches on deforestation and CO2 emissions; Bristol Greenpeace has also been campaigning against fracking locally; UK Youth Climate Coalition is a climate change movement that empowers young people to take climate change action. Through its international wing, they work with youth globally, specifically to get delegations to UN climate talks, such as to COP21 in Paris starting on 30 November 2015.
Young people need to help stop environmental damage and try to save our planet in whatever way they can. Every person counts and together my generation can save the world.”

Message at Bristol Climate March 2015
Photograph taken by and copyright Chris Craig

Message at Bristol Climate March 2015
Photograph taken by and copyright Chris Craig

Greenpeace Polar Bear message at Bristol Climate March 2015
Photograph taken by and copyright Chris Craig

This is the Facebook Page for the Bristol event

https://www.facebook.com/events/1720715738152151/

On Monday 30 November 2015, the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris (COP21 Paris) made up of 196 countries started to meet to discuss climate change

http://www.un.org/climatechange/blog/category/cop21-paris/

Photograph courtesy of UN COP 21 FB Page

Photograph courtesy of UN COP 21 FB Page

Photograph from COP19 and courtesy of UN COP 21 FB Page

One of my teachers from school, Richard Baxter, is really involved in Bristol Greenpeace and it was lovely to see him. He was my big sisters tutor for five years and so he knows my family really well.

After the march, I met Adanma Maduagwe a Nigerian journalist doing a masters in journalist at UWE. As well as being interviewed about my birding and conservation, It was really interesting to talk to her about journalist as this is something I am interested in for the future. I think that by the time I’m an adult, people will have a few different careers at the same time.

Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig being interviewed by Adanma Maduagwe
Photograph taken by and copyright Helena Craig

Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig with Adanma Maduagwe
Photograph taken by and copyright Helena Craig