Why teenage hip-hop artist and climate change warrior Xiuhtezcatl Martinez is suing the US government

Xiuhtezcatl Martinez is one of a group
 of teenagers suing the US government
to force action on climate change - he
will speak in Melbourne next month.

The inaction by governments around the world to institute changes in their respective country’s governance in response to climate change is considered by many to be a crime.

Some, particularly younger people and sometimes only teenagers, have taken their governments to court over their failure to act and one who has done that in America will be speaking in Melbourne next month.

Xiuhtezcatl Martinez, just 16, is the public face of a group of 21 US teens who in October last year launched a court action against the American government. The case alleged that because the government was undertaking activities that cause climate change, it was therefore denying the constitutional rights of young people to life, liberty and property.

Martinez will speak that Melbourne’s Sustainable Living Festival and you can learn more about him by reading Andrew Masterson’s story in today’s Melbourne Age - “Whyteenage hip-hop artist and climate change warrior Xiuhtezcatl Martinez is suing the US government.”