15-YEAR-OLD GRETA THUNBERG
GIVES A WARNING TO THE WORLD
"CHANGE IS COMING, WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT"
"WHOEVER YOU ARE, WHEREVER YOU ARE, WE NEED YOU"
15-YEAR-OLD GRETA THUNBERG ADDRESSES UNITED NATIONS IN POLAND, DECEMBER 12, 2018
SHE CONDEMNS THEIR CLIMATE INACTION
TRANSCRIPT OF SPEECH VIDEO
My name is Greta Thunberg. I am 15 years old, and I’m from Sweden. I speak on behalf of Climate Justice Now!
Many people say that Sweden is just a small country, and it doesn’t matter what we do. But I’ve learned that you are never too small to make a difference. And if a few children can get headlines all over the world just by not going to school, then imagine what we could all do together if we really wanted to.
But to do that, we have to speak clearly, no matter how uncomfortable that may be. You only speak of green eternal economic growth because you are too scared of being unpopular. You only talk about moving forward with the same bad ideas that got us into this mess, even when the only sensible thing to do is pull the emergency brake. You are not mature enough to tell it like it is. Even that burden you leave to us children.
But I don’t care about being popular. I care about climate justice and the living planet. Our civilization is being sacrificed for the opportunity of a very small number of people to continue making enormous amounts of money. Our biosphere is being sacrificed so that rich people in countries like mine can live in luxury. It is the sufferings of the many which pay for the luxuries of the few.
The year 2078, I will celebrate my 75th birthday. If I have children, maybe they will spend that day with me. Maybe they will ask me about you. Maybe they will ask why you didn’t do anything while there still was time to act. You say you love your children above all else, and yet you are stealing their future in front of their very eyes.
Until you start focusing on what needs to be done, rather than what is politically possible, there is no hope. We cannot solve a crisis without treating it as a crisis. We need to keep the fossil fuels in the ground, and we need to focus on equity. And if solutions within the system are so impossible to find, then maybe we should change the system itself.
We have not come here to beg world leaders to care. You have ignored us in the past, and you will ignore us again. We have run out of excuses, and we are running out of time. We have come here to let you know that change is coming, whether you like it or not. The real power belongs to the people. Thank you.
2018 CLIMATE CONFERENCE
2018 United Nations Climate Conference in Poland (Cop24 Katowice 2018)
GRETA THUNBERG
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WHOEVER YOU ARE, WHEREVER YOU ARE, WE NEED YOU
Whoever You Are, Wherever You Are, We Need You': 15-Year-Old Greta Thunberg Calls for Global Climate Strike (Common Dreams, 12-12-18)
ARTICLES
You Are Stealing Our Future: Greta Thunberg, 15, Condemns the World’s Inaction on Climate Change (Democracy Now, 12-13-18)
School Strike for Climate: Meet 15-Year-Old Activist Greta Thunberg, Who Inspired a Global Movement (Democracy Now, 12-11-18)
'Our leaders are like children,' school strike founder tells climate summit (The Guardian, 12-4-18)
The Fifteen-Year-Old Climate Activist Who Is Demanding a New Kind of Politics (The New Yorker, 10-2-18)
The Swedish 15-year-old who's cutting class to fight the climate crisis (The Guardian, 9-1-18)
Greta Thunberg: “Sweden is not a Role Model” (Medium, 8-24-18)