2011-10-24 18:43:20
Address to the Plenary Session, Earth Summit,
Rio Centro, Brazil 1992
Severn Cullis-Suzuki
Hello, I'm Severn Suzuki speaking for E.C.O. - The Environmental Children's organization. We are a group of twelve and thirteen-year-olds from Canada trying to make a difference: Vanessa Suttie, Morgan Geisler, Michelle Quigg and me.
We raised all the money ourselves to come six thousand miles to tell you adults you must change your ways. Coming here today, I have no hidden agenda. I am fighting for my future. Losing my future is not like losing an election or a few points on the stock market. I am here to speak for all generations to come.
I am here to speak on behalf of the starving children around the world whose cries go unheard. I am here to speak for the countless animals dying across this planet because they have nowhere left to go.
I am afraid to go out in the sun now because of the holes in the ozone. I am afraid to breathe the air because I don't know what chemicals are in it.
I used to go fishing in Vancouver my home with my dad until just a few years ago we found the fish full of cancers. And now we hear about animals and plants going extinct every day - vanishing forever.
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.
Did you have to worry about these little things when you were my ageAll this is happening before our eyes and yet we act as if we have all the time we want and all the solutions.
I'm only a child and I don't have all the solutions, but I want you to realize, neither do you! You don't know how to fix the holes in our ozone layer.
You don't know how to bring salmon back up a dead stream.
You don't know how to bring back an animal now extinct.
And you can't bring back forests that once grew where there is now desert.
If you don't know how to fix it, please stop breaking it!
Here, you may be delegates of your governments, business people, organizers , reporters or politicians - but really you are mothers and fathers, sister and brothers , aunts and uncles - and all of you are somebody's child.
I'm only a child yet I know we are all part of a family, five billion strong, in fact, 30 million species strong and we all share the same air, water and soil - borders and governments will never change that. I'm only a child yet I know we are all in this together and should act as one single world towards one single goal. In my anger, I am not blind, and in my fear, I am not afraid to tell the world how I feel.
In my country, we make so much waste, we buy and throw away, buy and htrow away, and yet northern countries will not share with the needy. Even when we have more than enough, we are afraid to lose some of our wealth, afraid to share.
In Canada, we live the privileged life, with plenty of food, water and shelter - we have watches, bicycles, computers and television sets. Two days ago here in Brazil, we were shocked when we spent some time with some children living on the streets. And this is what one child told us: "I wish I was rich and if I were, I would give all the street children food, clothes, medicine, shelter and love and affection." If a child on the street who has nothing, is willing to share, why are we who have everything still so greedy
I can't stop thinking that these children are my age, that it makes a tremendous difference where you are born, that I could be one of those children living in the Favellas of Rio; I could be a child starving in Somalia; a victim of war in the Middle East or a beggar in India.
I'm only a child yet I know if all the money spent on war was spent on ending poverty and finding environmental answers, what a wonderful place this earth would be!
At school, even in kindergarten, you teach us to behave in the world.
You teach us:
not to fight with others,
to work things out,
to respect others,
to clean up our mess,
not to hurt other creatures
to share - not be greedy
Then why do you go out and do the things you tell us not to do
Do not forget why you're attending these conferences, who you're doing this for - we are your own children.
You are deciding what kind of world we will grow up in. Parents should be able to comfort their children by saying "everything's going to be alright', "we're doing the best we can" and "it's not the end of the world". But I don't think you can say that to us anymore. Are we even on your list of prioritiesMy father always says "You are what you do, not what you say." Well, what you do makes me cry at night. you grown ups say you love us. I challenge you, please make your actions reflect your words.
Thank you for listening.
珊文·铃木1992年在联合国地球峰会上的演讲。
她是12岁的加拿大小女孩，她自己筹钱到巴西的里约热内卢，在联合国的峰会上，她做了5分钟的发言。
一开始大家觉得这只是漫长会议中的另一场发言而已，随着她大声说出的每一句话，会场开始变得非常安静。坐在听众席上的高官、重要人物、各国领导、科学家们，有的表情尴尬，有的似乎被什么击中，有的开始擦眼泪。还有更多的人，他们低下了头，好象不知道该怎么和这个小孩对视。
这是她说的话：
Hello，我是珊文·铃木，代表E.C.O.——关注环保儿童组织。我们是几个十二三岁的加拿大小孩：Vanessa，Morgan, Michelle和我。我们自己筹钱，旅行了五千里来这儿告诉你们大人，你们必须改变。我今天来这儿，没有什么隐藏的理由。我是在为我的未来抗争。
失去我的未来并不象输掉一场竞选，或者股市上的一些点数。我来这儿是为了所有未来的一代又一代。我来替世界上所有饥饿的小孩讲话，因为他们的哭声没有人听到。
我来替地球上正在死去的数不清的动物讲话，因为他们没有地方可去。必须有人听听我们的声音。我现在不敢出去晒太阳，因为臭氧层有破洞。我害怕呼吸空气，因为我不知道里面有什么化学成分。
我曾经和爸爸一起在温哥华钓鱼，直到几年前我们发现鱼都得了癌症。现在每天我们都能听到动物和植物灭绝的消息——它们再也回不来了。
在我的生命里，我梦想着看见大群的'野生动物，看见到处是鸟和蝴蝶的热带丛林，但是现在我不知道我的孩子还能不能看到它们存在。
你们象我这么大的时候也需要担心这些事情吗？
这些都在我们的眼前发生，可是我们却假装我们有无穷无尽的时间和办法去解决问题。我只是个小孩，我没有解决这些问题的答案，但是我想要你们知道，你们也没有！
你们没有办法修补臭氧层的破洞。你们不能让三文鱼回到已经干涸的河流，你们没有办法让灭绝的动物重新出现，你们也无法让已经变成沙漠的地方重新成为森林。
如果你们没有办法去修补，就请不要再去破坏！
在这里，你们也许是政府的代表、商业人士、组织者、记者或者政治家，但你们也是父亲和母亲，兄弟和姐妹，叔叔和阿姨——而且，你们所有人都是你们父母的小孩。
我只是一个小孩，可是我却知道我们都是一个大家庭的成员，这个家庭有五十亿人，三千万个物种，我们共享着同样的空气、水和土壤。国界和政府永远也改变不了这个事实。
我只是一个小孩，可是我却知道我们是一个整体，应该为了同样的目标一起努力。我很生气，但我不盲目。我很害怕，但我不怕把我的感觉告诉全世界。
在我的国家，我们浪费太多，我们买了又扔掉，买了又扔掉，却不肯分享给需要的人。甚至当我们拥有的已经太多的时候，我们还是怕会失去财富，不愿与人分享。
我只是一个小孩，可是我却知道如果所有花在战争上的钱都被用来终止贫穷、找寻环境问题的答案，这个地球会变成多美好的地方！
在学校，甚至是在幼儿园，你们就教我们要做个乖孩子。你们教我们不要打架，要谦让，要尊重别人，要清理弄脏的地方，不要伤害动物，要分享，不要自私。
那你们为什么却在做着不让我们做的事？不要忘了你们为什么来参加这些会议，为谁来参加——我们是你们的孩子。你们在决定着我们在什么样的世界里成长。父母在安慰孩子的时候应该能说"一切都会好的"，"我们正在尽力"和"这不是世界末日"。但是我想你们再也说不出这些话了。你们真的还把我们放在头等重要的位置吗？我爸爸总是说："你所做的才代表了你，而不是你所说的。"
你们所做的事情，让我在夜晚哭泣。你们大人说你们爱我们。我恳请你们，言行一致。谢谢。
