Millions of young people took to the streets on Friday to protest their governments' inaction on the climate crisis. This is their message.
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00:00I want each and everyone to know, to change their mindsets.
00:03I want Japanese people to think more about the environment on Earth.
00:07We want to have a future, and we want everyone on this planet to have a future.
00:11For businesses and the government to understand that we all want change.
00:14Please, a change. A radical change.
00:18I'm here because I believe that this planet is our home, and we have a right to protect our home.
00:23We should be exercising our political right to live in peace and harmony with each other.
00:27And I'm here not just for myself, but I'm here for every other young person around the world
00:32who doesn't have a voice to protect their home.
00:34You see in the news how glaciers are melting, there are places that are already deforesting.
00:40A great and terrible example is the burning of the Amazon.
00:44The consequences of climate change are already here.
00:46If you look at the summer we had, we're talking about the sixth mass extinction.
00:50There's a species that disappears every 20 minutes.
00:52This man-made change does not only affect us, it affects every organism on Earth.
00:58From plants to animals to humans, it affects everyone.
01:02I really don't want to see all this beauty just being destroyed like this.
01:08We don't want our Earth to die.
01:11I think environmental issues will continue to happen.
01:17We young people will do our best for the children of the future,
01:22so I hope that we can face these issues.
01:27You can have health, you can have education, you can have a family,
01:31but without this planet we have nothing.
01:33And I don't understand why people don't understand this fact.
01:37It's a fact. We don't have a choice.
01:39We still have a long way to go, but our future is in danger.
01:44So it's only natural that I'm going to demonstrate,
01:46and that a lot of young people are going to demonstrate,
01:48because we simply want a secure life and not a threatened future.
01:52If young people stand up, it's wrong for us to stand here and protest.
02:00I really hope that Japan's policies will be more environmental-friendly.
02:07You have the power to do something about it.
02:09You have the power to make laws that protect nature,
02:13laws that prohibit the use of plastic, that prohibit the production of garbage.
02:17You can make laws to reduce meat consumption.
02:20You have the power to do a lot of things,
02:22and I think you should use it for the common good of all, not just for the good of a few.
02:26I'm here to stop climate change, because they want our government to do something about it.
02:31I'm here because I need to tell the government that they need to change their ways,
02:35because climate change is coming, and you need to respect your mother.
02:41I just want the political leaders to tell everybody, to encourage,
02:46to encourage everybody that they should not kill their environment.
02:52Everybody knows there's a problem.
02:54If you ask everybody what climate change is, what's going on, everybody knows.
02:58But nobody does anything.
03:00We've been protesting for six to eight months,
03:02we've been taking action, we've been civil disobedience,
03:04and there's still nothing.
03:06Big companies continue to pollute,
03:08the government continues to do its job.
03:10So we continue, and we will continue until they take measures to the extent of urgency.
03:15We support Earth!
03:17And they pollute Earth!
03:19And they pollute Earth!
03:22For more UN videos visit www.un.org