CLIMATE CHANGE: Thunberg tells UN 'If you choose to fail us we will never forgive you'
By: Newsdesk Team
City of London Newsroom
Swedish uber-campaigner Greta Thunberg has made a impassioned plea to world leaders at the UN, accusing them of failing to act on climate change.
She told some 60 world leaders gathered for a one-day symposium in New York yesterday [Monday, 24th September] organised by UN Secretary General António Guterres that her generation would "never forgive them" if they failed to combat climate change as she lambasted the assembly for their lack of action.
"These numbers are too uncomfortable, and you are still not mature enough to tell it like it is," she said. "You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words," In an emotional speech, she said: "This is all wrong. I shouldn't be up here. I should be back in school on the other side of the ocean, yet you all come to us young people for hope. How dare you?
"You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words," the 16-year-old said urging world leaders to act urgently, saying: "We will be watching you."
Despite a mandate laid down by Guterres that only countries who came with action plans to cut carbon emissions were welcome, the worlds #1 climate change sceptic US President Donald Trump put in a brief appearance.
The UN Secretary General said the world was "in a deep climate hole" and that urgent action was needed. "Time is running out, but it's not too late," he said.
In response, French President Emmanuel Macron said international organisations had pledged
to release $500m in additional aid to protect tropical forests while German Chancellor Angela Merkel said her country would double to €4bn it financial commitment to fight global warming
Who is Greta Thunberg ?
Greta Thunberg FRSGS is a 16 year old Swedish environmental activist focused on the risks posed by climate change.
In August 2018, while still 15, Thunberg took time off school to demonstrate outside the Swedish parliament, holding up a sign calling for stronger climate action. Soon, other students engaged in similar protests in their own communities. Together they organized a school climate strike movement under the name Fridays for Future. After Thunberg addressed the 2018 United Nations Climate Change Conference, student strikes took place every week somewhere in the world. In 2019, there were at least two coordinated multi-city protests involving over one million pupils each.[1][2]
Thunberg is known for her blunt, matter-of-fact speaking manner, both in public and to political leaders and assemblies, in which she urges immediate action to address what she describes as the "climate crisis". At home, Thunberg persuaded her parents to adopt several lifestyle choices to reduce their own carbon footprint, including giving up air travel and not eating meat.
In May 2019, Thunberg was featured on the cover of Time magazine, which named her a "next generation leader" and noted that many see her as a role model. Thunberg and the school strike movement were also featured in a 30-minute Vice documentary titled Make the World Greta Again. Some media have described her impact on the world stage as the "Greta Thunberg effect".
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