Selina Leem, IB Diploma Programme student at UWC Robert Bosch College in Germany, recently spoke to world leaders at the 2015 United Nations Climate Conference (COP21).
Leem is a native of the Marshall Islands in the Pacific. In her heartfelt speech, she talked about the effects of climate change on her home environment and her cultural heritage. Because of both their small size and location in the vast Pacific Ocean, the Marshall Islands are highly vulnerable to climate change, especially rising sea levels.
Leem recounted the moment when, as a little girl, it dawned on her that she and her family were completely surrounded by water. She said: “I am only 18 years old but ever since I can remember, I have felt nervous about my home. I have always been hearing my island is changing […].”
As discussions made their way towards a new global climate agreement, Leem urged the conference to take action to protect not just the global community but her local island from the threats of climate change:
”This agreement is for those of us whose identity, whose culture, whose ancestors, whose whole being, is bound to their lands. I have only spoken about myself and my islands but the same story will play out everywhere in the world. If this is a story about our islands, it is a story for the whole world.”
Leem represents the large community of IB students in the world that are voicing their opinions and stories to make a change. Concluding her speech, she added:
“Sometimes when you want to make a change, then it is necessary to turn the world upside down. This agreement should be the turning point in our story; a turning point for all of us.”
Read the full speech and watch the video here.
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