Transcript source: http://www.sustainablestyle.org/sass/heirbrains/03suzuki.html

Editor's note: The following is the transcript of the speech that Severn Suzuki gave to the Plenary Session at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio Centro, Brazil. Severn was twelve years old. SASS feels there is no better example of a young person standing up and speaking on behalf of something in which they truly believe, for the betterment of themselves and the world around them.

Hello, I'm Severn Suzuki speaking for E.C.O. - The Environmental Children's Organisation.

We are a group of twelve and thirteen-year-olds from Canada trying to make a difference:
Vanessa Suttie, Morgan Geisler, Michelle Quigg and me. We raised all the money ourselves to come six thousand miles to tell you adults you must change your ways. Coming here today, I have no hidden agenda. I am fighting for my future.

Losing my future is not like losing an election or a few points on the stock market. I am here to speak for all generations to come.

I am here to speak on behalf of the starving children around the world whose cries go unheard.

I am here to speak for the countless animals dying across this planet because they have nowhere left to go. We cannot afford to be not heard.

"Traditionally, religion has looked on the world of natural science as opposed to the world of Spirit, but paradoxically, today, it is the world of science that is unwittingly preparing human thought for this breakthrough, by uncovering the ephemeral nature of matter at it's basic levels, and showing the relationship between mind and matter. This makes it easier to concieve of a mental or a transcendent reality. Thought is more prepared to consider the spiritual foundations of theology, and eventually to connect with the creative governing intelligence of the universe, that we call God." Mindpower and The Spiritual Dimension" by Richard Haw

We are all aware of the many trials and tribulations that our world is presently experiencing. Evil, in the form of pollution, crime, hatred, greed, and moral decline, seems to be increasing in proportion to the current materialistic outlook. It would seem then that the remedy for these ills is not more materialism, but a looking away from matter towards Spirit, towards the true nature of our relationship to the Infinite Source of All Being. This wouldn't mean that we ignore our present basic material needs but when we turn to the "Divine Mind", the Collective Conciousness, or Spirit (God), whatever term one wants to use, then, and only then will we find true, practical and lasting solutions which would benefit everyone involved. I've seen this principle demonstrated and therefore know it to be true.

Einstein once said that anyone studying physics long enough is inevitably led into metaphysics.