Licypriya briefs world leaders on Manipur crisis
Source: Chronicle News Service
Dubai, December 06 2023:
Licypriya Kangujam, a 12-year-old climate justice activist and special envoy of East Timor, demanded billions of dollars from rich nations to support vulnerable communities at the United Nations Climate Conference 2023 (COP28) which is underway in Dubai since November 30 .
She also highlighted that the Meetei community had not committed any wrongdoing in the ongoing Manipur crisis during the Faith Session of COP28 .
She met several world leaders, including Italy Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, USA Vice President Kamala Harris, Egypt President El Sisi, East Timor President Jose Rammos Horta, Norway Prime Minister Jonas Gahr, UAE President Mohamed Bin Zayed, Mongolia President Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh, Colombia President Gutavo Petro, France President Emmanuel Macron, the UK King Charles 3, Vatican head His Holiness Pope Francis, and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
A total of 187 world leaders and over 97,000 participants are attending the UN Climate Conference this year in Dubai, which will continue until December 12.Prime Minister Narendra Modi also participated in this event.
This year's COP28 centres on phasing out fossil fuels and reviving the Loss and Damage Funds with Licypriya attending in the capacity of the special climate envoy of Timor Leste.
On the very first day, all member states agreed to operationalise the Loss and Damage Fund.
Italy, France, and the UAE contributed 100 million dollars each, while the USA contributed 17.5 million dollars, which faced criticism from civil society groups and environmental activists.
Licypriya said, "The adoption of the Loss and Damage fund in COP28 is a historic one.
It's a good start but still not enough.
What we want is not millions but tens of billions, and this shouldn't be in the form of a loan or debt trap to the developing nations.
Governments must work together to phase out coal, oil, and gas - the top cause of the climate crisis today".
On Manipur issues, she highlighted that people living in the valley in her birthplace Manipur periodically face serious problems of drinking water, due to droughts resulting from massive deforestation irt the hills.
Most of the crops are washed away by severe flash floods every year while 75 per cent of the rivers and lakes are now dry and dead.
The lush green mountains are becoming a desert now.
Female children are out of school to fetch water from a very long distance.
This is a real climate emergency in Manipur, she said.
For the vulnerable small island nations, she stated that they experience multiple climate change impacts, including floods, droughts, landslides, and sea-level rise.
This leads to increase in food insecurity, water shortage, destruction of infrastructure, loss of human life, displacement, limited financial and technological capacity to quickly recover and rebuild loss and damage.
"Our beautiful islands are now submerging inside the sea due to rise in sea level.
It's not just threatening our community but imperious for our culture and identity too, " the young climate activist said.
Licypriya is leading several protests during COP28 as one of the key voices for the global south.
She will be speaking in several sessions before the end of COP28 .
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