Eco-anxiety rap by girl, 14, wins global prize

Michelle Amadiegwu chose to rap rather than write an essay for her geography homework

A 14-year-old girl's rap about climate change has won a global competition for children's creative expression.

Berkshire charity Trust for Sustainable Living (TSL) invited entries on the theme of eco-anxiety for its annual Grand Prize.

Michelle Amadiegwu's rap, There's No Planet B, urges people to do their bit to reduce global warming rather than succumb to defeatism.

The Kent schoolgirl topped the list of 2,173 entries from children in 81 countries.

The track samples Greta Thunberg's speech to the Youth4Climate conference in Milan, Italy, in 2021, in which the activist criticised progress at climate change summits.

She told delegates: "There is no planet B, there is no planet blah. Blah, blah, blah."

Amadiegwu's rap urges: "Do your own bit even if you can't fight/ Like buy less clothes and turn off the light."

The teenager, from Dartford Grammar School for Girls, said her whole geography class had to enter the competition for their homework.

She said: "I didn't want to do an essay. So when I saw that we could enter a rap or anything creative, I chose to do that.

"I usually do musical projects for my homework so I decided to do it here as well, but I never thought I was going to be a finalist."

The competition has been run for 15 years by TSL, which operates The Living Rainforest, an ecological tourist attraction at Hampstead Norreys.