Greta Thunberg is Fighting for Climate Justice: “If We Can Save the Banks, We Can Save the World”

A 16-year old girl from Sweden who gave up her childhood to fight for the future has now inspired millions of people to stand up for themselves, and the climate.

Meet Greta Thunberg, the teenage climate activist who realized at a young age, that you are never too small to make a difference. Greta has energized people around the world to take action against the climate crisis.

The climate crisis is the biggest crisis that humanity has ever faced, and yet it has been ignored for decades. Science is already telling us, and nature is already showing us that change is happening and there is more to come. 

It is said that 1 in 4 Americans are skeptical of the effects of climate change, and think this issue has been exaggerated.

Even Greta admits that she was doubtful when she first learned about the climate crisis, because surely if it were true, we wouldn’t be talking about anything else – it would be our first priority.

Many believe that climate change is an abstract threat in the future, but it’s already happening now, and it’s not going to get better. 

We have already increased the annual global temperature of about 1.2˚C above pre-industrial levels. Scientists confirmed in the 2018 IPCC report that at this current rate, the world could cross 1.5˚C hotter as soon as 2030, which is well within the lifespan of most people alive today.

While 1.5˚C might not sound like a big increase in temperature, it’s the difference between life and death for thousands of people. This change is temperature is related to extreme heat, ocean warming and acidification, storms, rising sea levels and loss of habitat.

It’s warming.

It’s us.

We’re sure.

It’s bad.

We can fix it.

At 11-years old, Greta became very depressed about the environment, she stopped eating, stopped talking, and stopped going to school. She then began to make changes. Greta stopped flying, eating meat and dairy, and she stopped buying new things – in order to be able to look herself in the eye. 

In August 2018, Greta Thunberg said to herself, this is enough, and she sat herself down in front of the Swedish parliament and went on strike for the climate. The symbolism of the school strike is that “since you adults don’t give a damn about my future, I won’t either… Why should we care for our future if we might not have one”.

Greta has since spoken at climate rallies in Stockholm, Helsinki, Brussels, and London. In December 2018 she attended the United Nations COP24 in Katowice, Poland, where she addressed the Secretary-General and made a plenary speech that went viral.

In January 2019 she was invited to the World Economic Forum in Davos where her speeches again made a worldwide impact.

Now Greta has come to America. 

After a 15-day sail across the Atlantic ocean, on an emissions-free yacht that uses solar panels and underwater generator turbines to avoid producing carbon emissions. Greta arrived in Lower Manhattan in late August, before her anticipated speech at the United Nations Climate Action Summit.

Global Climate Strike is taking place from September 20th – 27th 2019, in over 150 countries. Millions of people are stepping out to demand an end to the age of fossil fuels. 

“If we can save the banks, we can save the world.”

“If there is something we are not lacking in this world, it’s money,” she added. “Of course, many people do lack money, but governments and these people in power, they do not lack money. And also we need to have the polluters… actually pay for the damage they have caused. So, to that argument, I would not even respond to that argument, because it has been said so many times, the money is there. What we lack now is political will and social will to do it.”

This young environmentalist is persistent and is directly confronting world leaders and elites over their role in the planetary emergency. Greta believes that people will get scared, and then they will understand, especially young people since it’s their future which is being taken from them.

“Our civilization is being sacrificed for the opportunity of a very small amount of people to continue making enormous amounts of money”

We can all hope that this Global Climate Strike will be the tipping point. World Leaders should know that we are watching them.

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