Photo via BBC News/YouTube
September 29, 2021, 1:11 pm*
Greta Thunberg was back at the latest Youth4Climate summit once again trashing world leaders for their utter failure to take any meaningful or effective action on climate change, deriding their slogan-spouting what feel like empty promises at the recent U.N. General Assembly. Many have already expressed disappointment and anger toward these leaders after a U.N. climate report estimated that our current trajectory will land us at 2.7 degrees warming — more than double the warming we’ve already endured that has caused record-breaking weather events worldwide.
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“Build Back Better. Blah, blah, blah. Green economy. Blah blah blah. Net zero by 2050. Blah, blah, blah,” said Thunberg, listing off various slogans and promises put forth by leaders like Joe Biden and Boris Johnson.
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“This is all we hear from our so-called leaders. Words that sound great but so far have not led to action. Our hopes and ambitions drown in their empty promises.”
Thunberg once again echoes the increasingly common sentiments among young people and those following our progress on climate change. Reports have found that promised action like net zero carbon emissions by 2050 fall short of what is needed to mitigate the worst effects of climate change and that nations are overwhelmingly failing to meet even these goals, putting us on a path to disaster not seen by humanity since maybe the last ice age.
Folks like Thunberg are tired of all the talk while New York gets flash floods and tornadoes and pavement warps from extreme heat in the Pacific Northwest. Another recent survey found that a depressing proportion of young people suffer from climate anxiety and feel that they have no future to look forward to. The survey spoke with 10,000 people age 16-25 across 10 nations and found that 56 percent agreed with the idea that “humanity is doomed” and 75 percent find the future to be a frightening prospect.
A growing consensus among climate scientists and activists demands that extreme measures need to be taken now to prevent mass death and economic collapse around the world, noting that there is still time to stop this. All that is lacking is the will of the rich and powerful to give up some of their wealth and power to save billions of lives.
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“We can still turn this around — it is entirely possible,” Thunberg continued. “It will take immediate, drastic annual emission reductions. But not if things go on like today. Our leaders’ intentional lack of action is a betrayal toward all present and future generations.”
She further accused world leaders of only pretending to listen to her and other climate activists and experts to make themselves look good while continuing policies that are actively worsening climate change. This year, with Biden in office, U.S. oil drilling approvals have increased, breaking his promise to end the issuing of new drilling permits if elected.
In the end, Thunberg expressed that we no longer have the luxury of waiting on our leaders to do the right thing.
“We can no longer let the people in power decide what is politically possible,” she said. “We can no longer let the people in power decide what hope is. Hope is not passive. Hope is not blah, blah, blah. Hope is telling the truth. Hope is taking action. And hope always comes from the people.”
*First Published: September 29, 2021, 1:09 pm
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