Who is Greta Thunberg?
Great Tintin Eleonora Ernman Thunberg is perhaps the youngest and smartest environmental activist on climate change. She is a native of Sweden born to Svante Thunberg and Malena Ernman. Her school strike movement for the climate change became popular and she came to be known for her youth activism which inspired many youngsters. At a tender age when most kids spend their time in classes and wait for free hours to play outside, Greta took a different turn. From the playful attitude of a 15-year-old kid, she directed her attention to a more serious issue.
She spent her school days outside the Swedish parliament calling for immediate action towards the unprecedented climate change. Many school goers joined the movement and they started protesting strongly under the name ‘Fridays for Future.' She is now an internationally recognised climate activist. The youngsters of today shall follow her footprints to make the world a better place.
The Wold Economic Forum, 2020
The fiftieth annual meeting of The World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland witnessed the conference on several huge issues ranging from health to the global economy. Among all the dignitaries present in the meeting, US President Donald Trump and young Greta are the most mentioned people in the world economic forum. The theme was ‘Stakeholders for a Cohesive and Sustainable World.’ Climate change was at the top of the priority list at the world economic forum.
Climate Change - Greta calls for immediate action
‘ I don’t want your hope. I want you to panic…and act.’ Greta has proved that she can not tolerate anymore when adults tell her about the impossibility of a possible restructuring and immediate transformational action. Greta says that we can either set to work or continue our present business and ultimately fail.
Great Thunberg was a prominent part of The World Economic Forum Annual Meeting. Greta gives a wake-up call to all the politicians and activists to open their eyes and see the deteriorating state of the planet. Greta is known for her straightforward character and boldness. Despite her movements and protests, she says that no people in power have bothered to address the issue and it has been ‘completely ignored’ and ‘basically done nothing.’ She also points out that no media will feature her message. She was present for the entire week to deliberate on the issue.
Greta’s Great Words
• She with her soft sweet voice with all her might urges us to act as if our house was on fire. With more carbon footprints our job increases and the chances of survival debilitates.
• She tells that richer countries must get down to zero emissions to inspire and help the poor countries to follow the same. As a result, people in remote areas can raise their standard of living. She is not calling out for lowering the emissions but to stop the emissions. She made sure that all criticisms and accusations pointed at her never bogs her down, say, for example, down made a statement about stopping investments on fossil fuels. The US Treasury Secretary Steve Munchkin responded that she study economics before talking to them about sensitive matters like climate change. But it seems, she never lends an ear to that. She shot back saying that it does not require a degree in economics to understand that the remaining carbon budget does not add up to ensure our survival.
• She stresses that we are running out of time and there is little time for us to undo the mistake. There are probably only less than 8 years to save our planet. We emit about 42 gigatons of carbon dioxide every year and there are 340 gigatons of carbon dioxide left. So the remaining budget would be gone in less than eight years.
• It is necessary to stay below 1.5°C because even at 1°C people are dying due to climate change. Every small fraction matters.
• Most of us are under the pretension that the upcoming generation will be able to suck out tons of carbon dioxide with the technologies not yet developed. But it is never going to happen. She says that action must be done now and not after the destruction has been completed.
Even though Greta pointed out that nobody will be interested to talk about what she said, she will continue to propagate her message and ideas until everyone wakes up to act. Her unbreakable determination and courage to mouth her views and attempts to persuade the world caught the attention of people all over the world. In tweets and other social media platforms, her speech and statements on the climate change issue are gaining popularity.Her efforts and encouragement might be the only way to stir people to act upon climate change.
- Maryam Salim
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