Anjali Appadurai

Teen climate activist who challenged global leaders at COP26 to prioritize climate justice

Anjali Appadurai (b. 2007) is an Indian climate activist and founder of the Youth Climate Justice Collective, an organization that mobilized over 10,000 young people across Asia. At age 14, she gained international attention during the 2021 COP26 summit in Glasgow when she confronted world leaders with the question: "How dare you steal our future?", echoing Greta Thunberg's 2019 speech. Appadurai's work focuses on linking climate change to caste-based environmental racism, documenting how marginalized communities in India face disproportionate climate impacts. She co-authored the 2022 Climate Justice Report with UNDP India, which influenced state policies in Tamil Nadu. In 2023, she launched the Climate Literacy Program, integrating climate education into 500 Indian schools. Appadurai's writings appear in Nature Climate Change and Scientific American, making her one of the youngest contributors to peer-reviewed climate journals. Her speech "Our Planet is on Fire" has been translated into 15 languages.