Story at a glance:
- Greta Thunberg believes global leaders are saying nothing substantial about climate change.
- “Build back better. Blah, blah, blah. Green economy. Blah blah blah. Net-zero by 2050. Blah, blah, blah,” Thunberg said at the Youth4Climate on Tuesday.
- ”They’ve now had 30 years of blah, blah, blah and where has that led us?” Thunberg said.
When global leaders talk about their commitment to addressing the climate change crisis, a well-known climate change activist believes they are saying nothing.
As Changing America previously reported, Greta Thunberg is touring Europe weeks prior to the United Nations’ Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow, which starts on Oct. 31 and ends Nov. 12.
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The Swedish activist, yet again, called out global leaders for making empty promises while seemingly congratulating themselves for accomplishing, what Thunberg thinks, is nothing, The Guardian reported.
At the Youth4Climate event in Milan, Italy, which garnered about 400 fellow young activists from about 200 countries, reported France 24, Thunberg mocked Prime Minister Boris Johnson using his own statement: “This is not some expensive, politically correct, green act of bunny hugging.”
The 18-year-old activist also took a jab at Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi: “Fighting climate change calls for innovation, cooperation and willpower.”
The U.N. stated that carbon emissions are expected to rise by 16 percent around 2030, with most of the world not living up to its commitments on the Paris Accord, a global initiative with the goal of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
As of now, the smallest country within mainland Africa is the only country to achieve the Paris Accord measures.
“Build back better. Blah, blah, blah. Green economy. Blah blah blah. Net zero by 2050. Blah, blah, blah,” Thunberg said at the Youth4Climate on Tuesday. “This is all we hear from our so-called leaders. Words that sound great but so far have not led to action. Our hopes and ambitions drown in their empty promises.”
“Of course we need constructive dialogue,” further explained Thunberg. “But they’ve now had 30 years of blah, blah, blah and where has that led us? We can still turn this around – it is entirely possible. It will take immediate, drastic annual emission reductions. But not if things go on like today. Our leaders’ intentional lack of action is a betrayal toward all present and future generations.”
The Guardian cited research published on Monday that states that children born today would experience more extreme heat waves and other climate-related disasters than previous generations regardless if countries fulfill their emission cuts.
Thunberg said, “They invite cherry-picked young people to meetings like this to pretend that they listen to us. But they clearly don’t listen to us. Our emissions are still rising. The science doesn’t lie.
“We can no longer let the people in power decide what is politically possible. We can no longer let the people in power decide what hope is. Hope is not passive. Hope is not blah, blah, blah. Hope is telling the truth. Hope is taking action. And hope always comes from the people.”
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