Dozens of teenagers too young to vote performed a holiday-themed flash mob in downtown Vancouver on Sunday as a way of calling on the Canadian government to take action on climate change after its decision to withdraw from the Kyoto Protocol.
The group named Kids for Climate Action brought attention to its cause by singing and dancing to Christmas songs, which included reworking the lyrics to "Jingle Bell Rock" and chanting "climate change sucks."
"I may not have any political power right now. I can't vote yet, but the decisions my government makes right now are going to affect my future," organizer Sophie Harrison told CTV News.
The 17-year-old wanted the group to focus on how it's not too late to take the necessary steps to help our environment.
"We have all these problems that could happen with climate change, that are already starting to happen with climate change, but we still have time to turn this around. The (International Energy Agency) suggests we have five years to turn around our emissions before we see the effects of runaway global climate change. So it's not too late, but now is the time," she said.
Anjali Appadurai, 21, of Coquitlam, B.C., is another young Canadian who stands out for her inspiring leadership.
Appadurai gave a speech on behalf of the world's youth at last week's United Nations climate change conference in Durban, South Africa. As she spoke, she gave negotiators an earful for putting off the writing of a new climate change treaty until 2015.
"The most stark betrayal of your generation's duty to ours is you call this ambition. Where is the courage in these rooms?" she asked at the conference.
A video of Appadurai's speech has since gone viral and she has received numerous messages from people thanking her for her message.
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Nafeesa Karim
