For children, adults, and all those in between, Greta Thunberg, a Swedish teenager, has been the cause of much inspiration, self evaluation and reflection. Her climate change activism campaigns have gained, and are constantly gaining, support and recognition on an international scale. With the alarming rate at which the condition of our planet is deteriorating, many of the younger generation have felt or expressed discontent with the manner in which various governments have established solutions. There is a general consensus of uncertainty over our futures, our children’s future and every other generation to come. Greta Thunberg has created a platform to encourage young people to act on these concerns and press for innovation.
On 23 September 2019 Thunberg delivered a speech at the UN Climate Action Summit to a collective of world leaders. This speech was met with large amounts of controversy. Whilst it amassed much applause and positive feedback, Thunberg also received many criticisms over her approach of conveying her message. Donald Trump tweeted, in an attempt at sarcastic humour, “She seems like a very happy young girl looking forward to a bright and wonderful future. So nice to see!”. Thunberg’s speech entailed harsh truths of how she felt her childhood had been stolen meanwhile the powerful political figures in that very room were only able to focus on “fairytales of eternal economic growth”. The courage and bravery involved in making these statements was merely ridiculed by a man over four times her age, namely the President of the United States. This only displays that despite the incredible impact Greta has had on such a prevalent issue, she is still underestimated due to a number of unjust biases.
Greta Thunberg has founded a movement called Fridays for Future, in reference to her weekly school strikes to protest against the lack of action being taken to combat climate change. Millions across the globe have crowded in city streets in order to assume their role of actively pushing for revisions of climate policies. Advocation for environmental sustainability has rightfully become a social normality, as demonstrated by these mass peaceful protests. The marches have garnered attention from influential political figures such as Christiana Figueres, a former United Nations climate chief, who stated that “It is a sign that we are failing in our responsibility to protect them from the worsening impacts of climate change”. This only proves how far the movement has come and what it has achieved, all the way from Thunberg’s solo protests outside Swedish Parliament in August 2018 to triggering declarations of agreement from over a million students worldwide.
To conclude, Greta Thunberg has brought about long overdue attention to the distressing predicament of our planet, and the intensely discernible scientific evidence for its cause. Ultimately, in our current sociopolitical climate, it is the multitude of the average population who must drive forward and place pressure on our governments. Individuals, such as Greta Thunberg, have utilised their widespread conspicuity to enable us to feel secure whilst vocalising our views, and now we must do this to our full capability.
Who’s Future? Our Future.
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