Dear children and youth from all around the world,
Good morning to all of you, it's a pleasure to join you.
In 2019 I had the opportunity to visit several nations in the Pacific, where climate change is stealing homes, and stealing hope.
I visited Tonga, where they are moving hospitals to higher ground and planting mangroves to fight back against encroaching seas and erosion.
I was shown one area that used to be a rugby ground where Tonga and Fiji once played, but which the sea has now taken.
I also visited Tuvalu, which will be under water within a century unless we take urgent action.
The Prime Minister of Tuvalu has warned that any further temperature increase will spell the total demise of his nation.
While I was in Tuvalu, I met a young boy called Falou. I was so impressed with his knowledge of climate change.
But he told me that he had been discussing with his friends what they would do if Tuvalu sinks, and that the majority of his friends had decided that they would sink with Tuvalu.
Those words disturbed and saddened me, because a child of that age should be having fun with his friends, not worrying about whether he will still have a home when he grows up.
It brought home to me what is at stake for the young people of our world.
Small island states like Tonga and Tuvalu are the least responsible for climate change, but face the most severe consequences.
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Likewise, children and young people are the least responsible for climate change, but will live with its effects throughout their lives.
Which is why we must listen to the voices of young people, because they have the most to lose from a warming planet, and the most to gain from climate action.
You are raising your voices to draw attention to the damage that others are doing to the world that you and your children and grandchildren will inhabit.
For too long, we have plundered our planet, poisoned our air, polluted our water, and traded our future health for profit today.
The global addiction to fossil fuels is not just an act of vandalism; it's an act of self-sabotage.
The emissions we pump into the air are literally suffocating us, and making our planet less fit for human habitation.
There will be a heavy price to pay if we fail to keep global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
The price will be human health, and it will be paid not by those responsible for the damage, but by people like you and those who come after you.
So you must continue to raise your voices to call for a change of course before it's too late.
WHO is listening, because we know that a healthy planet means healthy people.
The only way things will change is with your energy, your voices and your leadership.
The future health of our planet, and the future health of people, belongs to you, and depends on you.
I thank you.
