We will lead, even if you dont: Indian teen tells world leaders at COP26

Vinisha Umashankar, a
14-year-old girl from India, told world leaders gathered at COP26 in Glasgow,
Scotland that her generation is “angry and frustrated at world leaders who’ve
made empty promises” and made a call to action to save the planet. Umashankar
was one of the finalists of the Earthshot Prize, referred to as the “Eco Oscars”
and was invited by Prince William to speak at a meeting discussing clean
technology and innovation at the climate conference.

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“Today I ask, with all due
respect, that we stop talking and start doing. We, The Earthshot Prize Winners
and Finalists, need you to back our innovations, projects and solutions, not an
economy built on fossil fuels, smoke and pollution. We need to stop thinking
about old debates because we need a new vision for a new future,” Umashankar
said.

She added that we need to
invest time, money and effort in us to shape the future. Fourteen-year-old
Umashankar from Tamil Nadu made a solar-powered street ironing cart which was a
finalist for the Earthshot Prize for its concept of replacing dirty charcoal
with clean energy. “There’s no stop button,” the teenager said.

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“Many of my generation are
angry and frustrated at leaders who’ve made empty promises and failed to
deliver. And we have every reason to be angry. I want to act. I’m not just a girl
from India. I’m a girl from Earth and I’m proud to be so. I’m also a student,
innovator, environmentalist and entrepreneur but most importantly, I’m an
optimist,” she said.

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Indian Prime Minister Narendra
Modi, UK’s Boris Johnson and US President Joe Biden were at the event where
Umashankar made her rousing statement.  

“On behalf of The Earthshot
Prize winners and finalists, I invite you to join us. I invite you to stand
with us. We hope that you will give up the old ways of thinking and the old
habits. But let me be clear we! When we invite you to join us, we will lead
even if you don’t,” the 14-year-old said.