Greta Thunberg has attacked world leaders for their “betrayal” of young people through their apathy over the climate crisis.
Speaking at the United Nations climate summit, she said: “You are still not mature enough to tell it like it is. You are failing us. But the young people are starting to understand your betrayal.”
In what The Guardian describes as a “stinging speech,” the teenage climate activist added: “You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words.”
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
“The eyes of all future generations are upon you,” she continued. “And if you choose to fail us I say we will never forgive you. We will not let you get away with this. Right here, right now is where we draw the line.”
Although Narendra Modi, the prime minister of India, told delegates that “the time for talking is over” he didn’t announce any phase-out of coal. While Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, did set out the end of coal mining in her country, her distant deadline of 2038 disappointed climate activists. China failed to put forward any new measures.
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––For a round-up of the most important stories from around the world - and a concise, refreshing and balanced take on the week’s news agenda - try The Week magazine. Get your first six issues for £6–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
If these positions dismayed Thunberg, she displayed a different emotion when she crossed paths with Donald Trump at the summit. As a widely shared video shows, when the US president arrived, Thunberg fixed him with a furious stare.
Later, Trump took a swipe at her on Twitter. Perhaps having seen the video of the stare she gave him, he shared a video of her emotional speech, adding a sarcastic comment that: “She seems like a very happy young girl looking forward to a bright and wonderful future. So nice to see!”
The United Nations has warned that world is on track to warm by as much as 3.4C by the end of the century. This would escalate disastrous heatwaves, flooding, droughts and societal unrest. Major coral reefs and many other species face extinction.
-
Should you add your child to your credit card?The Explainer You can make them an authorized user on your account in order to help them build credit
-
Cracker Barrel crackup: How the culture wars are upending corporate brandingIn the Spotlight Is it 'woke' to leave nostalgia behind?
-
'It's hard to discern what it actually means'Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Shell’s North Sea oil U-turn: ‘a first victory in a longer war’?Speed Read Controversy after oil giant pulls out of proposed Cambo project
-
Youth activists demand UN declare a climate emergency: 'We have had 26 COPs that have been failures'Speed Read
-
Greta Thunberg: five things you may not know about herIn the Spotlight Environmental activist calls for demonstrators to maintain ‘massive public pressure’ on politicians
-
Fires, floods and storms: America’s ‘permanent emergency’ has begunSpeed Read This summer of climate horror feels like the ‘first, vertiginous 15 minutes of a disaster movie’, says The New York Times
-
Hot air and empty rhetoric: is the UK acting too slowly on climate change?Speed Read ‘Every day, new evidence accumulates that humanity is on an unsustainable path’
-
Germany floods: what led to this ‘once-in-a-century’ disaster?Speed Read Nearly 200 people died in Germany and Belgium; hundreds are still unaccounted for
-
Penguin colony at risk as Somerset-sized iceberg bears down on British overseas territorySpeed Read Several species face starvation if the icy giant blocks access to feeding grounds
-
‘Full of hot air’: climate experts exposed as academia’s most frequent flyersSpeed Read Study results trigger calls for environmentalists to ‘look in the mirror’
