Licypriya Kangujam On What She Tells People Who Ask Her To Go And Do Homework

"I'm big or small; it doesn't matter. And I'm a girl who strongly believes that every child can leave the change, isn't it?," she asked, adding that all of the small actions can make a huge difference.

Licypriya Kangujam Edited by
Licypriya Kangujam On What She Tells People Who Ask Her To Go And Do Homework

Licypriya Kangujam On What She Tells People Who Ask Her To Go And Do Homework (Photo on X @LicypriyaK)

Kochi, Kerala: While speaking at the Summit of Future 2025 in Kochi, Licypriya Kangujam, 13-year-old climate activist from India’s Manipur, on Tuesday reacted to people blabbering about children getting involved in serious issues like climate activism. Noting that many call out saying, ‘Go to school, do your homework, do your exam, blah blah blah,’ Kangujam said what he has all to ask them is that if they had taken even a bit of action or had done something for the environment.

Kangujam, who is the founder of The Child Movement, which aims to empower children to take action, said that she would have enjoyed her “beautiful childhood” instead of coming out to the street and raising her voice if others could make a difference. She went on to say that, as she has always told, age does not matter to make a difference.  “I’m big or small; it doesn’t matter. And I’m a girl who strongly believes that every child can leave the change, isn’t it?,” she asked, adding that all of the small actions can make a huge difference.

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The climate activist, who is also the special envoy of the President of Timor Leste, expressed her happiness for being the youngest diplomat in the history of the world.

Born in Manipur, Kangujam says her state is full of lush green mountains and diversity, but for now, most of the regions have become climate hotspots. People including children, after their school, fetch water from a very long distance. Explaining her own struggles due to the adverse impact of climate change, young climate activist says her life was hit by Cyclone Titli in 2018, and Cyclone Fani in 2019.

She says during those two cyclones, she saw in front of her eyes how people were suffering, how children were affected, and how innocent people lost their lives and homes.

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“I saw all the devastation; I couldn’t sleep. I couldn’t even take my food. I couldn’t even drink water,” Kangujam said, adding that she moved to Delhi in 2019 and thought about how she could fix the intense heatwave and the air pollution level in the capital city. “You see, in July 2008,. I got invited by the United Nations to a conference when I was at the age of six, and it was a life-changing event,” she remembers her turning point to actively engage in climate activist campaigns.

“I met many world leaders, policymakers, experts, etc., and then after returning back in July 2019, I started my own organization called Child Movement, adding that it does various initiatives such as planting trees and cleanliness drives, among others.

I have five major demands of the leaders and government to change the system, says Kangujam. Firstly, to pass a climate change law as soon as possible in the parliament, which would help control carbon emissions. Secondly, including climate education is a mandatory subject in each curriculum. Kangujam’s third demand is that all students plant ten trees each year, promoting a sustainable and greener world. The fourth demand, Kangujam adds, is that the governments should work together. The final demand is for rich nations to do climate finance and pay for the loss and damage.

“Because you see today’s global climate crisis is caused by the rich nations. And we are just the victims of it. There will be no climate justice without climate finance,”… says.

Stating that her generation is already the victim of today’s global climate crisis, Kangujam goes on to assert that she does not want future generations to face the same consequence “again because of the inaction and empty false promises.”

“I’m also happy to share with you all that. You know, I received letters from the Rajasthan and Gujarat governments that they are going to include climate education as a mandatory subject in their school education. Curriculum. Now, over 150,000 schools, or 1.5 lakh schools, are now setting climate education as a mandatory subject in their education,” she said, adding that many European countries have also started teaching climate education.

Expressing her disappointment during her visit to the iconic Taj Mahal, Kangujam says she was shocked to see the monument surrounded by piles of garbage and plastics, despite it being one of India’s most sought-after destinations and one of the seven wonders of the world.

What she did next was that she took a poster and wrote, ‘Behind the beauty of the Taj Mahal is plastic pollution,’ which went viral on social media, and within 24 hours, all the plastics were removed, she recalls, highlighting the impact a small action can create in the world.

Stating that it is all about basic rights, Kangujam asks what real freedom is, as many talk a lot about it.  Freedom is when you can protect your land and environment. “Freedom is when you can protect your children’s future culture and health. Freedom is when you can protect your land and environment; freedom is when you can read and write. Freedom is when you’re out of hunger. And freedom is when we are all together in this fight for change,” the young activist said.

Talking about the need for change and how it can be achieved by collective efforts, Kangujam appealed to all listening to her to take climate action for a sustainable future.