girl: my name is alexandria villaseñor. boy: my name is iglia bra. boy: i'm carl smith. boy: my name is david ackley. [girl speaking native language] girl: my name is ayakha melithafa. boy: my name is raj tanagi. girl: my name is yur kapadaem. boy: my name is litokne kabua. girlmy name is greta. we are actually saying that yo are violatg chilen's right ile you have--u have rectified the un convention of

the rights of the child, and therefore, ware suing you. i think that is a very perful thing. alexandra:y generation will be the most vulnerable by the climate crisis. carl: my village is built on permafrost, and it's starting to thaw away. ayakha: a lot of people experience climate change, but they don't know that it's climate change. litokne: we want a sustainable planet to live in in the future. [camera shutter clicking] announcer: "earth focus" is made possible in part by a grant from anne ray foundation, a margaret a. cargill philanthropy; the orange county community foundation; and the farvue foundation. [helicopter blades whirring]

[flames crackling] [water rushing] [wind howling] man: every child born today will experience a fundamentally altered world, which will increase their probality of death and serious disease or illness because of the change in the climate. there are a great many efforts brought by young people around the world--cases brought domestically against governments for iling to do what those governments pledged to do in the paris agreement. but what forum would allow you to talk to all of humanity at one time? that's the united nations. we conducted interviews to basically put together the best diversity and array of young people from

different parts of the world being affected in different waysy the crisis. a number of organizations, including greta thunberg, conveyed to us the desire to formulate, if possible, a single legal strategy in order to respond to a challenge that affts all nations. greta: i am very much shown in the media, and thefore it is extremely important that we al highlight thother plntiffs. we need to get better of listening to everyone, and therefore there is also one other reason to why this petition is so powerful and so important.

[litokne speaking marshallese]

[waves crashing] the waves came, and then they removed the piece of land that used to be over here. so over here is what used to be our outside bathroom, and then it was knocked away. this was used to be a basketball court area for small kids, but it destroyed. all this area was impacted, and it was flooded. 60% of the community here on ebeye has been damaged or affected by the rising seas and climate change. [children talking indistinctly] woman: the world tked about climate change before us. it's an existential threat. for the marshallese youth, we have 3 that are signature to the

petition. we are very proud that the 3 have taken a role in that very important challenge because the lives of people in countries like the marshall islands is on the line. it's hard to just close our eyes and hope that this is not gonna get worse, because we see it getting worse and worse every year. [flames crackling] alexandria: in november of 2018, one of the biggest wildfires in california's history broke out. [alarm beeping] i am originally from davis, california. and during my trip back home to california, i was really caught in the smoke of the paradise fire. [firefighter talking indistinctly] alexandria: and so i started to really research about wildfires,

because i wanted to knowhat was going on 'cause lifornia-- it's on fire all year round now. there is no wildfire season. 's juscalifornia. from that research, i started to see the link between climate change and california's wildfires, and that made me want to do something, but i didn't ow how until seeing greta thunberg speak at cop24 in poland. greta: this is the biggest crisis humanity has ever faced. need to get angry and hold the older generations accountable for the mess that they have created. [shouting in native languages] [rhythmic drumming] alexandria: could we have the first thing on our agenda be the e-mail that was just sent to all of you guys?

girl: can you text me the agenda because the what'sapp hasn't been working. alexandria: i was one of the first climate strikers here in the united states. woman: she said, "i want to strike." and we both laughed. we didn't think anybody would pay attention. in a period of 9 months, you know, we went from this place of just sitting on a bench with a sign to, you know, organizing globally. [cheering] crowd: ♪ if you will fight for us, we're gonna fight for you will you fight for us? ♪ alexandria: these demands are directed at those in power who are inside the united nations climate summit. and we will continue to climate options till they hear us. [cheering] kristin: right now, our lives are...just...overwhelming. it's difficult to keep up with our schedules.

woman: i'd like for us to all welcome alexandria. alexandria: people always k how we organize for a global climate strike. so really, how it's all done is it's done through social media. we use a lot of what'sapp, discord, slack. instagram's where a lot of, like, the youth are, and then twitter's where you'll see the climate scientists, and then facebook--it's like, "what's on facebook?" [laughter] kristin: in the beginning, alexandria managed her social media. it's just she's 14, and she insists on allowing, you know, direct messages to reach her. and with the huge following that she's developed, there's just so many of those messages that are not appropriate. i mean, she's received everything from death threats to marriage proposals--ha!--online and everything in between. my first job is to be her

parent, which is to keep her safe and to keep her healthy. and i worry there's real danger involved in being an activist. and so you just have to take precautions. you have to be careful. [engine chugging] carl: see, these are rabbits right there. rabbit snares. we set 'em as big as a man's hand, like this. usually it will get colder than this. right now, it's like 20 degrees, 15 degrees, but it should be, like, 0 to below 10. the main effects of climate change around here are less

snow, and it's just icy out on the river. and during the summer, it sometimes gets so hot that fish stt floating in the river dead 'cause there's no oxygen in the river. [engine chugging] [man speaking] carl: the permafrost is defrosting, and it's not hard enough for the waveso hit. and usually when the waves hit, it just bounces off and it doesn't erode. nowads, it's just too

soft and it's just breaking down the dirt on our land. [clifton speaking] [corn kernels rattling] [clucking tongue] [chickens clucking] ayakha: in the eastern cape, the majority of people here are farmers. this how we earn our living. this is how we sustained ourselves. but the weather has been so unpredictable that we haven't really had a chance to plant anything now. you can even see the clouds across. it's not that green or anything like that because of the drought. it's hard. it really is hard to live like this.

woman: the climate issue is a serious issue because it's affecting everyone, especially women, especially those single women that are trying to make ends meet and they try to go maybe for farming, and they can't do because now that there's stones and everything. so she's standing for the voiceless, if i can put it that way. her father died when she was 6. you've got those fear that how i'm gonna manage. then when you see them becoming what they are becoming, you feel so proud. ayakha: when you see something getting destroyed that you love and value, you can't just sit around and do nothing. so i went to the school internet and googled inhat is caung the drought, and then there's like a lot that came up--the climate change, global warming. so it's just like shock. like, wow, this is a lot of information about is, that it is a bigger movement going on beyond the small fraction of drought that we are facing here in cape town. [children talking indistinctly]

ayakha: as a school student, i decide, "ok, my school is my community. let me start from within." and we started school, and i tried to organize assemblies for me to, like, educate people, but even that was tough, 'cause school kids are mean. when i was trying to, "guys, come look here, come look here," "ah, rich white people stuff. this is for people that have money and rich." and i'm like, "guys, we the ones that are getting affected first here because, like, we the vulnerable ones." i can't really say, "oh, well, we're doomed, knowing that there's something we can still do." alexandria: 30 years ago, the world signed a contract between generations that the present world would leave a world worth inheriting to the futu. you are defaulng on that contract, and we're he to

collect. myself, along with 15 other children from all around the world, filed a complaint to the committee on the rights of the child, stating that our rights are being violated by argentina, brazil, germany, turkey, and france. article vi on the convention of the rights of the child say it's that we have an inherent right to life. but the climate crisis with more floods, wildfires, hurricanes--it's directly threatening that. greta: they promised to protect our rights, and they have not done that. carl: we used to be able to go hunt geese on...any kind of hu, berry picking. and now they're just disappearing. ayakha: you can start by the small, daily activities to just raise awareness in your community 'cause eventuall it will spread like a wildfire. woman: one of them is a 17-year-old who joined greta thunberg and 1other global

activists in signing a legal complaint for the united nations convention on the rights othe child. ayakha: it's almost like the children of the world taking the world to court, for not upholding the united nations rights of the child. i was very glad to be part of it 'cause it will mean that i was able to shed light on what's happening to my community, to my country. they look at co2 emissions... nokulunga: she was gonna do the plastic surgeon and stuff, so i said, "my hand is up. i hope i'm the first one." it's been long since i wanted to be young again. she said, "oh, i'll make you young." but now we're not talking about that anymore. now she's talking about the climate issue. she want to be a lawyer. she wants to fight for the climate, for the world, actually. greta: it's very important that we use every possible channel that we haveand the law is

especially powerful. michael: the petition is seeking to demonstrate that it's not just climate in the abstract or the earth in a bell jar. it's every child born today that will face the effects, you know, of increased global heating throughout their entire lives, generation after generation. greta: we're using our rights as citizens of the world and as children, and you need to actually step up when things go too far, and that's wh we are doing. boy: ha ha! [boy speaking marshallese] [litokne speaking marshallese]

[ukelele playing] [boy singing in marshallese] litokne: my family is one of the most important families in the community. we are the ones who take the responsibilities of our traditional ways of living.

[people singing] man: here in the marshall islands, we still observe the social caste system. or within the caste system, you have 3 categories--the royals, the chiefs; you have the landowners, and the commoners. the royal family is the kings. these are our advocate. they teach us manners, they teach us the culture, and they provide our needs. litokne comes from the royal family. knowing his background means he knows where he's coming from, and litokne's future here will be very important. litokne: my closest family member to me is my mother. my mother is the female traditional leader. [speaking marshallese]

litokne: i go around the schools here and encourage them to be youth activists, too. [litokne speaking marshallese] alexandria: you really want to protect those around you and make sure that your family is

safe and your friends are safe, but the climate crisis is directly threatening your friends and your family. it's threatening everyone on this planet. [door squeaks] man: we lost 85 and probably some more that we don't really know about 'cause there was a homeless population up here. we've go40,000 people who made it off this ridge driving through tunnels of fire. and some of the most powerful moments for me is when we heard about some of our youth group said they called their parents and said good-bye. [voice breaking] sorry. that gets me every time i think about it. so many peoplehought, really believed that they were going to die as they drove through the fires. the mental anguish and the stress is still gonna be

going on for a long time. we just had a load of food come in on friday, but you can see it's already pretty much gone. when you think about the fire, you think so often, "ok, it burns, you clear it, and you go back." but this devastation was so complete that people have gone from this area to almost all 50 states and into other countries. everyone's lost their friends, their community, the things they know. everything is gone. [electronic tone] carl: what's up, rasiene? rasiene: hey. we no longer have 4 seasons. we

only have 2 seasons, wch are summer and winter. so, simpl either we're facing an extreme at, or we are having, ke, heavy rains which goes floodings. carl: that's kind of scary. rasiene: yeah. we also have heavy snowfall, but i don't think that it is as much as you guys have-- rl: yeah. we don't-- rasiene: because you live in-- carl: you guys are probably having more snow than us. i'll talk to you maybe today or tomorrow. ok, later, bro. rasiene: take care. baby: boo. carl: i don't like mornings. always sleepy. so i drop one of my sisters off to my aunties, and then i drop one off at the preschool, then i go straight to school. boy: did you have fun in new york? carl: yeah. y: did you get to meet greta? carl: yeah, because she was part

of my group. before we went down the press conference, she helped me, like, get ready and whatever, like, ause i was nervous. and then--'cause she's used tit. i met lots of people from all around the world. my friend, he lives at the marshall islands. he lost his home from rising sea levels. we just have to keep talking. michael: the committee will make a recommendation as to whether or not there was a fundamental right agreed to by these nations, which they have not lived up to or honored. the enigma then comes in what those nations will do in the face of that finding and that recommendation. greta: what i wod hope thito result in that it actually

changes the way we see the clime crisis a the way we see this, because it's so symbolic and that it will rt change e mindts of people. [litokne speaking marshallese] ayakha: in south africa, the 1976 soweto uprising made kids from all ages are rising up to fight the apartheid system of learning afrikaans. so there was a powerful movement, and it keeps on encouraging and showing mehat youth can make a difference. we can make a major difference if we just put our hearts and our minds to it. alexandria: i hope that from the children versus climate crisis complaints that argentina, brazil, germany, turkey, and france that they respond to what

we have filed against them. i also want to see that this complaint it raises awareness to what's hpening to children all around the world. today, we are at city hall in san francisco. girl: what do we want? girls: climate justice! girl: when do we want it? girls: now! announcer: "earth focus" is made possible in part by a grant from anne ray foundation, a margaret a. cargill philanthropy; the orange county community 73ú3ú+ú+ú+ú+ú

09/12/22 09/12/22 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> their empire is going down and down and down because they did in the past do many bad things to the people of the world. but we