Greta promoted her view of the existential crisis that is being faced by humanity arising out of climate change. She is well known for her straight-forward speech. She doesn't fear to speak up about the climate crisis in public and to political leaders and assemblies. She even criticizes world leaders like US President Donald Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin etc for their inactiveness to take necessary steps and actions to address the climate crisis.
Greta's Campaign
It all started when Greta won the climate change essay competition in a local newspaper in May 2018. After three months, in August, she started spending her school days and protesting in front of the Swedish Parliament by holding up a sign reading Skolstrejk för klimatet (School strike for climate) to take into serious consideration about climate change.
She vowed to continue until the government of Sweden met the carbon emissions target agreed in Paris Climate Deal 2015. The key elements of the Paris deal are to keep global temperatures 'well below' 2.0C (3.6F) above, per industrial times and limit the amount of greenhouse gases emitted by human activity to the same levels that trees, soil and oceans can absorb naturally beginning at some point between 2050 and 2100. She urged the students around the world to join her.
Greta's protests went viral on social media , gained international attention and as support for her cause grew, other strikes started around the world, spreading with the hashtag #FridaysForFuture.
By December 2018, more than 20,000 students around the world had joined her in countries including Australia, the UK, Belgium, the US and Japan. She joined strikes around Europe, choosing to travel by train to limit her impact on the environment.
Her Activities
She took the whole of 2019 off school and continued campaigning, attended key climate conferences, and joined student protests across the world. She attended United Nations Climate Action Summit in New York on 23 September, 2019, delivered a powerful message to world leaders stating "The eyes of all future generations are upon you. And if you choose to fail us, I say - we will never forgive you". Her speech there, in which she exclaimed "how dare you?", was widely taken up by the press and incorporated into music.
She added, "We showed that we are united and that we, young people, are unstoppable" at the UN Youth Climate Summit, New York City, 21 September 2019. On January 24, 2019, she attended World Economic Forum in Davos. At the end of her speech, she quoted, "I want you to act as if the house is on fire; because it is". At the forum, she asked firms, governments and banks to stop investing and subsidising fossil fuels, instead urged them to invest their money in existing sustainable technologies, research and in restoring nature.
Awards and Achievements
Within a span of three years, the Swedish teenager received numerous awards and honours. The Awards include -
- Right Livelihood Award ( 2019)
- Glamour Award for the Revolutionary (2019)
- Rachel Carson Prize (2019)
- Nordic Council Environment Prize
- International Children's Peace Prize
- Gulbenkian Prize for Humanity (2020)
She was nominated twice for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019 and 2020.
Her courageous steps for climate strike inspired millions of students across the world and has received support from scientists, environmentalists, climate activists, world leaders and the Pope of the Catholic church to continue her voices. Malala's Yousafzai stands in support of her call. However, US President mocked her instead and commented that she should work on anger management. Likewise, Russian President also called her kind but a poorly informed teenager. In January, US Treasury Secretary, Strven Munichn told the teenager to study economics before lecturing investors.
Written by - Mickel Lepcha
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