On Tuesday, a number of children in Delhi gathered at Jantar Mantar in order to teach the world something very crucial, the need to care for our environment. With messages like, “You’ll die of old age. I’ll die of climate change,” the children drew attention to the problems that we face today, results of our very own actions. The ‘Climategiri’ event which saw 250 children involved in it was inspired by Greta Thunberg, a 16-year-old Swedish climate activist. Several mediums such as skits, flash mobs, street plays, guitar performances, and circus art were used to build awareness on the topic that was conducted on World Environment Day.

Vishal a 17-year-old student expressed his views on the importance of using terms that denote the immediacy of action required. He suggested terms such as ‘Climate Justice’ and ‘Climate Emergency.’ This was the third edition of ‘Climategiri’ conducted by students, educational institutions, volunteer groups, and environmental societies. This will continue every month till November when 1000s of children will gather to fight for the protection of the environment.

The Centre for Science and Environment’s State of India’s Environment report revealed some alarming statistics. 12.5% of all deaths in India are caused by air pollution. Not only this, over 100000 children below 5 years die due to the same reason. In 2018, the climate was the killer of 1425 people across 11 states. What we have to understand however is that we are responsible for the problem, and we are responsible for the solution.