The Youth4Climate Summit, hosted by the Italian government saw
hundreds of young people including Greta Thunberg from Sweden and Vanessa
Nakate from Uganda.
The eighteen-year-old Swedish Climate activist spoke at length in
the conference and she was clearly unhappy. Thunberg said, “They invite
cherry-picked young people to meetings like this to pretend that they listen to
us. But they clearly don’t listen to us. Our emissions are still rising. The
science doesn’t lie.”
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She added, “We
can no longer let the people in power decide what is politically possible. 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.”
Greta went on to quote statements from Boris Johnson, “This is not some expensive, politically correct, green act of bunny hugging” and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, “Fighting climate change calls for innovation, cooperation and willpower”.
She called out the world leaders for talking big but making no active decisions in order to fulfil their promises.
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In the speech given in Milan on Tuesday, she said, “Build back better. Blah, blah, blah. Green economy. Blah blah blah. Net zero by 2050. Blah, blah, blah. 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.”
However, this was not the first time that Greta Thunberg came out loud slamming the political leaders.
Here are a few quotes from Thunberg about climate change and making a difference:
On impact: “I have learned you are never too small to make a difference.”
On intention: “The moment we decide to fulfill something, we can do anything.”
On harassment: “When haters go after your looks and differences, it means they have nowhere left to go. And then you know you’re winning!”
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On change: “Right here, right now is where we draw the line. The world is waking up. And change is coming whether you like it or not.”
On not giving up: “You must take action. You must do the impossible. Because giving up is never an option.”
On purpose: “I’m not that special. I can’t convince everyone. I’m just going to do what I want to do and what will have the most impact.”
