COP26: Meet the activist fighting for Brazil's rainforests

Txai Surui is the founder of the Indigenous Youth movement in her home state of Rondonia in Brazil.

Inspired by her parents, the 24-year-old became a climate activist at an early age and campaigned against deforestation all over the world - a huge topic for Brazilians as their Amazon rainforest is currently under threat.

Txai is part of the WWF-Brazil Deliberative Council and is training to be an environmental lawyer.

What's happening to the rainforests in Brazil?

Deforestation is affecting huge areas of Brazil's rainforest

Indigenous people have lived in Brazil's Amazon rainforest for thousands of years, but deforestation there is a huge problem which is impacting the lives of lots of people.

It's when large portions of land where trees grow are destroyed to make way for areas for human use, such as farmland for cattle, crops, or wood to be used for building.

Many forests around the planet have been cleared in this way, but the most famous is the Amazon rainforest - the world's largest tropical rainforest.

Deforestation is a huge issue as trees help absorb carbon dioxide from the air, and this has a positive impact on climate change.

"My village has a lot of trees, it's green and it's like a big family," Txai explained to Newsround.

"We can see our plants don't flower like they did before and the rivers are dying because of deforestation. This affects our food."

"This is my fight, but this is your fight too"

Txai addressed leaders at this year's COP26 climate summit

Txai has spoken to world leaders about the impacts of climate change at the COP26 conference.

"The Earth is speaking. She tells us that we have no more time," she said during her speech which saw leader's give her a standing ovation.

However, not everyone was happy with the message the climate activist shared.

Brazil's president Jair Bolsonaro accused Txai and other indigenous groups speaking at the conference of attacking Brazil.

The country's government says it has a right to use the country's resources to grow the economy there but has received lots of criticism for allowing parts of the Amazon to be destroyed and Txai says that many indigenous people living in Brazil's forests are suffering.

The activist says rates of deforestation in indigenous lands has doubled. However, she still believes changes can be made to help the planet.

"I would like to say to young people in the UK, this is my fight, but this is your fight too. We need to fight [for] the planet together."