A 12-Year-Old Protestor Just Stormed The COP28 Summit Stage

Licypriya Kangujam is a 12-year-old climate warrior. She’s from India and she’s been protesting for climate action for years. She’s already spoken at the United Nations and she’s met with world leaders.

So it’s no surprise that she’s not afraid to make a statement.

At the COP28 climate summit in the UAE, she walked up to the stage and held up a sign that said “End fossil fuels. Save our planet and our future!”

COP28 Director-General Ambassador Majid Al Suwaidi commended the young activist’s enthusiasm and even urged the audience to give her another round of applause. This act of solidarity with the youth further underscored the importance of their voices in the fight against climate change.

In a surprising twist, public protests have been quite limited at the United Nations talks, even though they’re being held in the United Arab Emirates, a country with strict restrictions on organized groups like political parties and labor unions.

Countries on Monday were presented with a new draft text for the final deal, which surprisingly didn’t explicitly mention a phase-out of fossil fuels, a crucial demand from the European Union and many developing countries that are disproportionately impacted by climate change.