29 Sep 2021 | 3 mins
Overview
  • Greta Thunberg has slammed governments for their “empty words and promises” and for “shamelessly congratulating themselves” in their pledges to cut emissions that have led to no action
  • The stats are in black and white - we only have one planet and change in being more climate conscious needs to happen now

Amidst the lead up to the COP26 meeting in Glasgow (the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference), Greta Thunberg and thousands of young activists came together at a Youth4Climate event to engage with policymakers for possible solutions to end the climate crisis.

Say what now?

If you’re unaware of what’s going on, that may have sounded like a whole heap of nothing but all you need to know is Greta Thunberg just r-r-roasted world leaders yesterday, suggesting that they talk the talk and don’t pull through with their promises on tackling climate change issues.

And of course she’s fed up and angry - if you’re not, here’s why you should be and how you can do your part for the planet.

Why young people are fighting for action from nations

At the end of the day, we are the future and we're the ones that will make change. But if something doesn’t change soon (because of the Boomer mindset that the irreversible damage they created on a planet where they’ll be long gone) the planet will be insufferable when we get older. While the IPCC report says the damage has been done and future predictions don’t look too good, there are still preventable measures and changes that can be implemented.

What really got my attention in her speech was:

“30 years of blah, blah, blah and where has that led us?”

“They invite cherry-picked young people to meetings like this to pretend that they are listening to us… they are clearly not listening to us and they never have.”

Times have changed but we're still not being listened to

There are protests and rallies for a reason - gone are the 80-90’s days of activists being viewed as tree hugging hippies. We shouldn’t have slept on them, they knew what they were talking about because look at where we are now - bushfires, floods, endangered reefs and high dense populations are all projected to worsen and after the last few years we’ve had, we need change to happen. It’s not just our country - it’s our planet that needs saving.

Why does it take so much for us to get the climate crisis in news headlines?

But my question is, why does it take this type of ridicule for climate change to make headlines? Why does Greta Thunberg (an environmentalist icon) need to make fun of world leaders to be heard? I mean, she’s 18-years-old, created the School Strike 4 Climate movement and her influence has landed her multiple awards and honours. She does a bloody good job at making people aware of climate change but is still a massive target for critics everywhere - and for what?

The stats are there but people in power will be long gone before it affects them

The science doesn’t lie. Carbon emissions (the burning of fossil fuels and carbon being released into the atmosphere with a rapid increase of global warming) are on track to rise by 16% by 2030, according to the UN. These stats need to half, which is the cut needed to keep global heating under the internationally agreed limit (still sh*thouse) of 1.5C that is human-caused.

The stats are in black and white. So Greta, keep making waves and let’s keep fighting the good fight, no matter what it takes!