Greta Thunberg
Greta Thunberg | |
|---|---|
 Thunberg in 2018 | |
| Born | 3 January 2003 |
| Occupation(s) | Student and activist |
| Known for | Protesting outside Swedish Parliament, and speaking at COP24 |
| Relatives | Malena Ernman (mother) Olof Thunberg (grandfather) Svante Arrhenius (ancestor on her father's side) |
Greta Thunberg (born 3 January 2003) is a Swedish climate activist. She is known for striking outside the Swedish parliament building to raise climate change activism,[1] speaking at TEDxStockholm, and addressing the COP24 UN climate conference.
Life
Thunberg was born on 3 January 2003. Her mother is Malena Ernman, a Swedish opera singer. Thunberg's father is Svante Thunberg, who is an actor named after Svante Arrhenius. Arrhenius is an ancestor of her father, and won a Nobel Prize in Chemistry for calculating the effects of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.[2][3] Her grandfather is Olof Thunberg, an actor and a director.
Greta Thunberg has been diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome.[4]
Activism
On 20 August 2018, Thunberg, then in ninth grade, decided to not attend school until the 2018 Sweden general election on 9 September after heat waves and wildfires in Sweden.[1] Her demands were that the Sweden government reduce carbon emissions as per the Paris Agreement, and she protested via sitting outside the Riksdag every day during school hours with the sign "Skolstrejk för klimatet" (school strike for the climate).[4]
After the general elections, she continued to strike only on Fridays, which gained worldwide attention. Similar protests were organized in other countries, including The Netherlands, Germany, Finland and Denmark.[5] In Australia, thousands of school students were inspired by Thunberg to strike on Fridays, ignoring Prime Minister Scott Morrison's comments of " more learning in schools and less activism".[6]
On Twitter, she used hashtags and spread online awareness. Thunberg participated in the Rise for Climate demonstration outside the European Parliament in Brussels and the Declaration of Rebellion organized by Extinction Rebellion in London.[7]
On 24 November 2018, she spoke at TEDxStockholm.[8] Towards the conclusion of her talk, Thunberg said, "We've had thirty years of pep-talking and selling positive ideas. And I'm sorry, but it doesn't work. Because if it would have, the emissions would have gone down by now—they haven't."[9]
On 4 December 2018, Thunberg addressed the COP24 United Nations climate change summit.[10] On 12 December 2018, Thunberg again addressed the COP24 plenary assembly, stating:[11][12]
“You only speak of a green eternal economic growth because you are too scared of being unpopular. You only talk about moving forward with the same bad ideas that got us into this mess, even when the only sensible thing to do is pull the emergency brake. You are not mature enough to tell it like it is. Even that burden you leave to us children.”
— Greta Thunberg
See also
References
- ^ a b "The Swedish 15-year-old who's cutting class to fight the climate crisis". The Guardian. 1 September 2018.
- ^ "School Strike for Climate: Meet 15-Year-Old Activist Greta Thunberg, Who Inspired a Global Movement". Democracy Now!.
- ^ "'Our leaders are like children,' school strike founder tells climate summit". The Guardian. 4 December 2018.
- ^ a b "The Fifteen-Year-Old Climate Activist Who Is Demanding a New Kind of Politics". The New Yorker. 2 October 2018.
- ^ "Klimatmanifestation över hela landet: "Ödesfråga"". Expressen. 30 November 2018.
- ^ "Australian school children defy prime minister with climate strike". CNN. 30 November 2018.
- ^ "This Is Our Darkest Hour: With Declaration of Rebellion, New Group Vows Mass Civil Disobedience to Save Planet". Common Dreams. 31 October 2018.
- ^ "TEDxStockholm Theme: Wonderland". TED. Retrieved 20 December 2018.
- ^ Jon, Queally (19 December 2018). "Depressed and Then Diagnosed With Autism, Greta Thunberg Explains Why Hope Cannot Save Planet But Bold Climate Action Still Can". Common Dreams. Retrieved 20 December 2018.
Towards the conclusion of her talk, Thunberg says that "this is when people usually start talking about hope—solar panels, wind power, circular economy, and so on—but I'm not going to do that." And continues, "We've had thirty years of pep-talking and selling positive ideas. And I'm sorry, but it doesn't work. Because if it would have, the emissions would have gone down by now—they haven't." Finally, she says: "Yes, we do need hope—of course, we do. But the one thing we need more than hope is action. Once we start to act, hope is everywhere."
- ^ Carrington, Damian (4 December 2018). "'Our leaders are like children', school strike founder tells climate summit". The Guardian. London, United Kingdom. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 4 December 2018.
- ^ "Greta Thunberg makes an impassioned appeal at UN climate change conference in Poland". Herald Sun. NewsCorp Australia. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
- ^ Thunberg, Greta. "You Are Stealing Our Future: Greta Thunberg, 15, Condemns the World's Inaction on Climate Change". Democracy Now!. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
External links
