16-year-old Greta Thunberg traveled in a carbon-neutral boat to get to New York City in time for the Global Climate Strike last week, intent on speaking in front of the world during the United Nations Climate Summit taking place in the city today. And so she did—with the eloquence and strength of character that carries the outraged voice of her entire generation.
“This is all wrong,” Greta said to the world leaders gathered at the summit. “I shouldn’t be up here. I should be back in school, on the other side of the ocean.”
A weight on the shoulders of children
Greta’s indignation is certainly not misplaced. She’s become a symbol for young and older people alike all around the world for speaking the minds of children and teenagers, a group that holds no political power today but which will end up suffering the consequences of climate change the most. And her voice has not gone unheard.
But why should the weight of fixing the planet fall on the shoulders of teenagers? That’s, in Greta’s mind, absolutely unfair. And she’s absolutely right.
“You all come to us young people for hope,” she continued. “How dare you? You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words, and yet I’m one of the lucky ones. People are suffering. People are dying. Entire ecosystems are collapsing.”
Her outrage is specifically directed at the people in power who’ve failed to take conclusive action to tackle the alarming rate at which climate change is developing. Even those who fully support the science behind global warming seem not to realize just how dire the situation actually is.
“You say you hear us and that you understand the urgency,” Greta told them. “But no matter how sad and angry I am, I do not want to believe that. Because if you really understood the situation and still kept on failing to act, then you would be evil. And that I refuse to believe.”
An immature world
It is truly sad that young people find themselves in the desperate need to educate their own parents and elders. That shouldn’t be their responsibility. But many leaders seem to be more concerned with economic growth and keeping a “business as usual” approach than with actually doing something significant about the climate crisis. In truth, things are looking very bad, and data shows we don’t have much time to change the course of our policies.
“There will not be any solutions or plans presented in line with these figures here today,” Greta lamented, “because these numbers are too uncomfortable and you are still not mature enough to tell it like it is.”
That’s a pretty direct hit. In this topsy-turvy world, the leaders of nations are truly more immature than the children who are waking up to the grim reality they’ll face soon. “You are failing us, but young people are starting to understand your betrayal. The eyes of all future generations are upon you. And if you choose to fail us, I say: We will never forgive you.”
In irresponsible denial
Despite overwhelming evidence for man-made climate change, some world leaders are still notoriously skeptic and show reluctance to implement the necessary changes to their own policies in order to tackle rising global temperatures. Brazilian president and climate change denier Jair Bolsonaro, who was heavily criticized for his role in the recent Amazon rainforest fires, was unsurprisingly absent from the gathering, as was Australia’s prime minister Scott Morrison.
Donald Trump, another infamous climate skeptic, was not expected to attend—but reportedly arrived right after Greta finished her speech, in order to listen to some brief remarks from German chancellor Angela Merkel. Trump left without saying a word.
Thunberg was also one of 16 children to file a legal complaint to the UN Committee on Rights of the Child, effectively suing five leading countries (France, Germany, Brazil, Argentina and Turkey) for failing to act on the ongoing climate crisis.
“The world is waking up. And change is coming,” Greta said decisively, “whether you like it or not.”
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