Two teenagers are creating waves at the United Nations Climate Summit in New York.

They are Fijian Timoci Naulusala, 13 of Naivicula Village, Wainibuka, Tailevu and Greta Thunberg, 16, of Sweden.

They have led the charge for youth delegates at the summit with powerful presentations.

Timoci called on world leaders to act now to save future generations before it is too late. He said the climate change threat was real. He challenged leaders to commit to climate action.

Greta issued a direct warning to leaders: “We will be watching you.

“This is all wrong. I shouldn’t be standing here. I should be back in school on the other side of the ocean. Yet you all come to us for hope? How dare you,” she said

“You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words. And yet I’m one of the lucky ones. People are suffering. People are dying. Entire ecosystems are collapsing. We are in the beginning of mass extinction. And all you can talk about is money and fairy tales of eternal economic growth. How dare you.”

She said the current level of engagement was not acceptable and we would live with the consequences.

She said for more than 30 years science is crystal clear. But leaders had looked the other way, she said. You are not mature enough to tell it like it is.

She said if they failed to act they “are evil.”

She said the politics needed to fix this did not exist today.

“People in power cannot continue to ignore this,” she said.

“You are failing us. We will never forgive you. We will not let you get away with it.

“Changing is coming whether you like or not.”

Morrison responds:

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the debate was subjecting Australian children to “needless anxiety”

Morrison said he would use his looming speech to the UN to address the lack of awareness about “the action Australia has been taking”.

“I want children growing up in Australia to feel positive about their future, and I think it is important we give them that confidence that they will not only have a wonderful country and pristine environment to live in, that they will also have an economy to live in as well.

Trump’s tweet:

American President Donald Trump seemed to belittle Greta’s remarks in a tweet.

“She seems like a very happy young girl looking forward to a bright and wonderful future,” the president wrote. “So nice to see!”

Edited by Ranoba Baoa

Feedback: nemani.delaibatiki@fijisun.com.fj