"Blah, Blah, Blah ..." - Greta Thunberg's speech at Youth4Climate

"All we hear from our so-called leaders are words that sound great, but so far have not led to action. Our hopes and ambitions are drowned in their empty promises" - said Greta Thunberg.

The activist in her speech referred to what politicians have previously said about climate action. She mocked Boris Johnson's statement: "This is not some expensive, politically correct, green act of hugging bunnies" as well as Narendra Modi:'s "Fighting climate change requires innovation, cooperation and willpower." Greta also pointed out how media is always reporting on what the leaders are promising to do, but there is very little to be found in terms of what is actually done. 

"We can still do this - change is not only possible but also necessary, but not if we go on like today. It will require immediate, drastic annual emissions reductions. Deliberate failure by our leaders is a betrayal of all present and future generations," concluded Thunberg.

Greta also called on the ignorance of politicians explaining that “they want solutions, but one cannot solve a problem they don’t fully understand."

Thunberg also reminded the public that the climate crisis is only a symptom of a much larger crisis. "The sustainability crisis, social crisis, the crisis of inequality, which dates back to colonialism, basing on the idea that some people are worth more than others.”

The 16% increase in carbon dioxide emissions by 2030, predicted by the United Nations, is extremely worrying and will mean that global warming will go further than the limit of 1.5 C.

Youth4Climate was hosted by the Italian government, the UK partner in the Cop26 climate summit. The Cop26 will take place in Glasgow, on ​​October 31. All countries with high pollution rates countries must deliver stricter commitments when it comes to the reduction of emissions.

There are opinions that Cop26 will not bring the much-needed breakthrough, that would allow meeting the norms listed in the Paris Agreement, but the goal of maintaining 1.5C warming is still possible.

A recently published study found that babies born today will experience many more extreme heatwaves and other climate disasters in their lifetime than their grandparents did, even if countries meet their current emissions commitments.

The climate crisis is undoubtedly one of the greatest challenges of our time, and we are now running out of time to stop and reverse what can lead to our own extinction.  

You can listen to Greta's full speech here:

https://twitter.com/GretaThunberg/status/1442860615941468161?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1442860615941468161%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.washingtonpost.com%2Fclimate-environment%2F2021%2F09%2F29%2Fgreat-thunberg-leaders-blah-blah-blah%2F