Yesterday’s Greta: The girl who pleaded with the UN for action in 1992 – but nothing changed

In 1992, a 12-year-old girl called Severn Cullis-Suzuki pleaded with the UN for action on climate change. She made global headlines and was known as “the girl who silenced the world for five minutes”.

Many of the themes she spoke about in her speech – such as deforestation, mass extinction and air pollution – are key environmental issues we still grapple with today, a number of which have since been echoed by 16-year-old Swedish activist Greta Thunberg.

At the time of her speech there was a groundswell of interest in the environment, and climate change was starting to be talked about. A number of legally-binding agreements were put in place but there was no significant action as a result.

Since then, another two billion people have joined the planet and the environment is in a more perilous state than ever before.

Despite her calls for drastic change going unheeded, Cullis-Suzuki – who is now 39 years old and has been working as an environmental campaigner her whole life – says she thinks there is a “magical” shift happening.

“Now that Greta has opened up this awareness about striking, civil disobedience and marching in the streets, that gives us so much hope. We need radical change and that’s not going to happen unless people march in the streets,” she says.

Cullis-Suzuki’s 1992 speech at the UN summit in Rio de Janeiro had lots of parallels with Greta’s speech in New York.

Cullis-Suzuki said: “I’m only a child and I don’t have all the solutions, but I want you to realise, neither do you. If you don’t know how to fix it, please stop breaking it.

“I am here to speak for all generations to come. I am here to speak for the countless animals dying across the planet because they have nowhere else to go.

“In my life, I have dreamt of seeing the great herds of wild animals, jungles and rainforests full of birds and butterflies, but now I wonder if they will even exist for my children to see. You grown-ups say you love us but please, let your actions reflect your words.”

Cullis-Suzuki was speaking on behalf of the Environmental Children’s Organisation (Eco) which was made up of 12 and 13-year-olds, who had raised the money themselves to get to the summit.

For two weeks they tried to make people listen to what they had to say and then finally got invited to give a speech at the main event.

Cullis-Suzuki says she felt completely calm when she gave her speech.

“I knew exactly what I was doing I was so focused on the message, and I recognise that in Greta. She knows exactly what she’s saying and I totally recognise that experience because I experienced it as well.”

Cullis-Suzuki says she finds it “hilarious” that people think her and Greta were manipulated as children, saying the youth are the least manipulable in our society.

She says: “It’s always been young people at the forefront of any revolution. Greta is at a totally different scale. Social media has democratised platforms of expression so much – now a child can have a very loud voice.

“There was increased lip service after my speech. I’m not sure there was increased action.”

She says change must now happen.

“We do not have a choice. On an individual level people love their children. When I was a child that was something I spoke about – I was basically asking adults to make their actions reflect their words,” she says.

“If in 27 years if we do nothing, the world will be so different who knows how the UN would function. We don’t have an option.”