Greta Thunberg is a 16-year-old Swedish climate activist who recently had the opportunity to speak at the Wold Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
…And speak she did.
Addressing the crowd of global elites who gather every year in the Swiss resort town to decide which of us they’ll harvest for platelets to add to their immortality baths, Thunberg showed nerves of steel to look the gathered billionaires and tycoons in their eyes and tell them, in no uncertain terms, that it is their greed, above all else, that is destroying the planet.
I was given the opportunity to speak at a lunch in Davos today… On the panel was Bono, Christiana Figueres, Jane Goodall, https://t.co/0SsuJbW9SN and Kengo Sakurada. #wef pic.twitter.com/PpUwQwTotf
— Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) January 24, 2019
Despite her powerful audience the diminutive Thunberg did not mince words:
“Some people say that the climate crisis is something that we all have created but that’s not true. Because if everyone is guilty, then no one is to blame and someone is to blame. Some people, some companies, some decision-makers in particular have known exactly what priceless values they have been sacrificing to continue making unimaginable amounts of money. And I think many of you here today belong to that group of people.“
Thunberg’s point was that it’s for too easy to frame climate change as a problem caused by the masses, with no easy solution, when, in reality, it’s a problem caused by the global elite who sit at the top of the massive corporations which are both the worst environmental offenders and who have been most active in blocking measures to protect the planet from further harm in order to protect their profits instead.
In additional remarks Thunberg said:
“I want you to act as you would in a crisis. I want you to act as if the house were on fire. Because it is.”
“Our house is on fire.”
A part of my speech at the World Economic Forum today. Thank you for inviting me! #wef pic.twitter.com/LvTWiwEiOu— Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) January 25, 2019
Many adults found the teenage activists words (and delivery) incredibly inspiring.
"Some…have known what priceless values they have been sacrificing to continue making unimaginable amounts of money, and I think many of you here today belong to that group of people."
She said it. She said it. She said it. To their very faces. ???
???
— Dr. Genevieve Guenther (@DoctorVive) January 24, 2019
It takes deep courage to go to Davos and tell the masters-of-the-universe *to their faces* that they knowingly torched the planet in order get filthy rich. @GretaThunberg did that. She's 15. https://t.co/66koheOsUq
— Naomi Klein (@NaomiAKlein) January 24, 2019
"Some…have known what priceless values they have been sacrificing to continue making unimaginable amounts of money, and I think many of you here today belong to that group of people."
She said it. She said it. She said it. To their very faces. ???
???
— Dr. Genevieve Guenther (@DoctorVive) January 24, 2019
Greta Thunberg is a favorite of mine.
This young woman speaks the hard truth to adults who should know better. https://t.co/IGpnDJqlYR
— Red T Raccoon (@RedTRaccoon) January 26, 2019
It was an exquisite choice of words, as those in the room had seconds to consider if they were part of that group or not.
No naming, just collective shaming.— Brad Vürst #NHSlove (@ChewyBB) January 26, 2019
Thank you for speaking truth to power! ✊
— March for Science (@ScienceMarchDC) January 24, 2019
Gretha you are a hero! Thank you for your effort and initiative that inspires many of us.
— Roland Cornelissen (@metamatterNL) January 24, 2019
According to NPR Thunberg’s words have inspired other protests from young people around Europe who have been staging walkouts and marches on Fridays under the hashtag #FridaysForFuture.
Fridays for future. The school strike continues! #climatestrike #klimatstrejk #FridaysForFuture pic.twitter.com/5jej011Qtp
— Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) September 16, 2018
The full text of Thunberg’s remarks can be read here.
My full speech at the World Economic Forum in print.#wef19 #WhateverItTakes https://t.co/M3tJhHbZs4
— Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) January 26, 2019