8-Year-Old Licypriya Kangujam Is India’s Greta Thunberg

Her inspiration is Greta Thunberg, her cause is climate change and she is just 8 years old! And right now, she’s at the COP25 meet in Madrid demanding that India pass a climate law that will control emissions in the winter session of parliament.

Dear Mr. @narendramodi, Pass the #ClimateChange Law in the ongoing Parliament session. Plz save our future. I am now with my inspiration @GretaThunberg to give more pressure 2 you & the world leaders. You can’t underestimate us. #ActNow #ClimateActionNow @Fridays4future @PMOIndia pic.twitter.com/byDrTDolWu

— Licypriya Kangujam (@LicypriyaK) December 6, 2019

Meet Licypriya Kangujam, perhaps the youngest green activist in the world. She has been staging protests outside Parliament for months now, braving the summer heat and rain to call out Modi and environment minister Prakash Javadekar, urging them to #ActNow.

And that’s not all - she is also the founder of  “The Child Movement”, a voluntary movement by children to raise their voices on global issues.  She’s been recognized for her work and was awarded the 2019 World Children Peace Prize laureate.

She doesn’t work alone – she has the support of her parents, and her father, KK Singh, is her chaperone. Her father founded The International Youth Committee, and has used it as a platform to reach out to other organisations. (She has travelled to 20+ countries so far.)

The Manipuri activist was born in Imphal but has lived largely in Delhi and Bhubaneshwar, which is why she chooses to protest right where the nation’s MPs are.  According to reports, the Indian government hasn’t been very welcoming of Licypriya and her cause.

In an interview with The Wire, the father-daughter duo spoke about their journey to COP25. They received an invitation from Patricia Espinosa, the executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, to attend the COP25 Summit in November. They then wrote to Prakash Javadekar requesting financial assistance but received no reply. The two had to rely on funds from friends and other contacts, as well as funds from the European Climate Foundation that supports a range of activities that focus on climate change.

Like Greta, Licypriya’s activism and busy schedule means she has to miss school, but she’s undeterred – she is committed to the cause and is okay with ruffling feathers. She says, “I urge him (Narendra Modi) and all MPs to act on climate change now and save our future. The sea levels are increasing and Earth is becoming hotter. They should act now."

_{*Feature image courtesy @LicypriyaK on Twitter}

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