Kids are speaking up for the environment. Let's listen | Olafur Eliasson

Transcriber: TED Translators Admin Reviewer: Rhonda Jacobs

My name is Olafur Eliasson.

I'm an artist.

I work with natural phenomena,

the weather,

climate, environment

and our future, one could say.

(Soft sound)

I was very inspired by youth movements,

how young people actually have organized themselves

in order to be heard.

For some time now,

I have in fact collaborated with young people --

they are the artists as well, in this case --

to make a project "Earth Speakr,"

where we, the grown-ups, can listen to them.

So join me in listening to them talking about the environment,

and about the climate, about the future,

and see what they have to say.

Girl 1: With "Earth Speakr," I can share my voice to anything I see.

It's a platform for us to speak up and for the world to hear us.

I could put a face on anything around me and say my message.

Hey, excuse me, I can see you.

(Recorded voice) Hey, excuse me. I can see you.

Kids can be the experts.

When we come together, we can find the answers.

All you have to do is listen.

Boy 1: Fight for our future.

(Italian) Help me to live 1,000 years more.

(German) I am hungry!

Boy 2: It's our future, and it's getting hotter.

(Recorded voice) It's our future, and it's getting hotter.

If I see a message I like, I can share it with my friends and family.

Girl 2: It's so cool because we can share our voices,

we can hear others,

and that's how we know that we're not alone in this fight.

And if enough of us make messages,

then the grown-ups will have to listen to us.

Then we can really make a change in the world.

(Polish) I was so dry before I got watered!

(Portuguese) Hello! My message would be that all houses should have solar panels!

(French) Hey, I am Willy from the Earth!

Girl 3: Imagine every place being as green as me.

This can be your future.

OE: See?

Their imagination is just so inspiring, I think,

and gives me hope also, frankly speaking.

So in "Earth Speakr," only kids can speak,

and the grown-ups are listening, right?

Of course, I still have an ask for you,

as a grown-up, go and make a Speakr message with a kid

and send it out into the world.

Make sure that the kid feels "Wow! Somebody's listening to me."

Because if we do that,

I think the future might be shaping in the right direction.

Thank you.