Txai Surui ‘The Earth is Speaking’
A powerful speech by a young Amazonian activist at the opening of the United Nations Glasgow COP26 climate summit
Txai Suruí midianinja — YouTube
Txai Surui (Chi Su-ree) is a 24-year-old activist from the Brazilian Amazon. The following is my transcript of her COP26 speech.
“My name is Txai Surui, I’m only 24 but my people have been living in the Amazon Forest at least 6,000 years.
“My father, the Great Chief Almir Surui, taught me that we must listen to the stars, the moon, the wind, the animals, and the trees.
“Today the climate is warming. The animals are disappearing. The rivers are dying, and our plants don’t flower like they did before.
“The Earth is speaking. She tells us that we have no more time!
“A friend asked me, will we continue to think that today’s injuries can be resolved with ointments and painkillers, even though we know that tomorrow our own wounds will be deeper.
“We need a different path, with both local and global changes.
“It’s not 2030 or 2050. It’s now.
“While you are closing your eyes to reality, the land defender Ari Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau, my friend since when I was a kid, was murdered for protecting the forest.
