Difficulty: Challenger (Level 2)
Due to climate change, sea levels have risen at alarming rates in recent years and extreme weather events have become more frequent. Young people around the world are taking action to save the planet.
Here are five climate activists pushing for change.
Greta Thunberg
The Swedish climate activist rose to global fame in 2018 at the age of 15. At that time, she started a school strike in front of the Swedish parliament to protest against climate change. This sparked the international Fridays for Future movement. Millions of students around the world have joined. Thunberg, now 21, was named Person of the Year by Time Magazine and has spoken at the United Nations. She inspires young people with her passionate commitment.
Reading Mutunkei
The Kenyan teenager combines his love of football and the environment through his Trees4Goals campaign. Since 2018, he has vowed to plant 11 trees every time he scores a goal. Mutunkei has also encouraged schools and clubs to be more sustainable. He even planted a tree with Kenya’s president. The teenager hopes FIFA will take a similar approach to tree planting.
Licypriya Kangujam
This 12-year-old Indian girl started fighting for climate action at the age of six. Inspired by Thunberg, she protested outside the Indian Parliament in 2019, campaigning for laws to reduce pollution and demanding that schools teach education about climate change. The young activist has since addressed world leaders at the United Nations Climate Change Conference and founded The Child Movement to demand climate justice.
Luisa Neubauer
The 28-year-old is one of the main organizers of the German school strikes “Fridays for Future”. In 2021, she obtained an important court ruling against the German government over climate policy. Neubauer has also published books on the climate emergency. She was also recognized by Time Magazine as one of the 100 emerging voices worldwide.
Woo Qiyun
The Singaporean environmental activist uses art and social media to educate people about climate change. She is best known for her Instagram page, The Weird and Wild, which has more than 22,000 followers. She creates entertaining videos to educate viewers about climate change. Woo works as a sustainability consultant. She hopes to make climate education easy to understand for everyone.
Use the puzzle below to test your knowledge of the vocabulary in the story.
Suggested answers
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Before you read: This leads to rising sea levels and more extreme weather events.
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Stop and think: Licypriya was inspired by Thunberg’s activism. Both girls began activism at a young age and Licypriya protested outside her country’s parliament, just like Thunberg did when she was younger.
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Hold: As a football player, Lesein has launched a campaign to plant trees every time he scores a goal, encouraging football fans to become more committed to sustainability.
