Greta Thunberg, the 16-year-old Swedish climate activist who helped kick-start the global youth movement to address climate change, is on a European tour, meeting with world leaders about climate change during her spring break, The Guardian reported. While in the United Kingdom, the teen climate change striker stopped by a massive climate change protest, on Sunday, April 21, to share her support for the demonstrators behind Extinction Rebellion (an international, nonviolent climate movement), and gave an inspiring speech.
“I come from Sweden, and back there it’s almost the same problem as here — as everywhere — that nothing is being done to stop an ecological crisis, despite all the beautiful words and promises,” Greta told the crowd.
“We are now facing an existential crisis, the climate crisis, and ecological crisis, which have never been treated as crises before,” she continued. “They have been ignored for decades, and for way too long, the politicians and the people in power have gotten away with not doing anything at all to fight the climate crisis and the ecological crisis. We will make sure that politicians will not get away with it for any longer,” she said to loud cheers.
“Humanity is now standing at a crossroads,” Greta said. “We must now decide which path we want to take.”
“We have gathered today because we have chosen which path we want to take, and now we are waiting for the others to follow our example,” she told the crowd. “We are the ones making a difference, we the people in this Extinction Rebellion and the children's school strike for the climate — we are the ones making a difference. It shouldn’t be like that, but since no one else is doing anything, we will have to do so.” Greta has been famous for her strong words for world leaders she considers inactive on the issue of climate change.
“We will never stop fighting for this planet, for our futures, and for the futures of our children and grandchildren,” Greta concluded.
According to the BBC, as of Monday, April 22, more than 1,000 people have been arrested during a week of Extinction Rebellion protests in London. The group started its “Shut Down London” protests on April 15 and plans to keep protesters in the streets until April 29, as part of a global effort.
“Our leaders have failed us. It’s time to rebel, and have a damn good time doing it,” Extinction Rebellion’s website says. “Climate breakdown and ecological collapse threaten our existence. Another world is possible, and it’s just within reach. It’s going to take everything we’ve got to get there. So we’re pulling out all the stops and rising up in a full-scale Rebellion against this twisted system to save ourselves and the natural world from extinction.”
“We will be blockading the city, engaging in civil disobedience, [and] taking direct action,” the site reads. “Join us as we engage in acts of nonviolent civil disobedience against governments in capital cities around the world as part of the International Rebellion.”
“This is not a one-off march. We will keep going for as long as we have to, shutting down cities day after day until our demands are met,” the site says. Those demands are for governments to tell the truth about the dangers of the climate crisis, reductions in carbon emissions, and, in the U.K., a “citizens’ assembly” to oversee government efforts to address the climate.
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London’s mayor, Sadiq Khan, has warned that the protests are taking “a real toll” on the city’s police and businesses; the BBC reported that 9,000 officers have been involved in managing the protests, which have set the scene for police to move protesters from multiple protest sites, even as activists tried to [hold original protest locations like Waterloo Bridge, where police removed activists who glued themselves to each other and the bridge on Sunday. Extinction Rebellion is planning to protest outside of Parliament later this week, with Roger Hallam, a founder and organizer, telling The Guardian, “We’re hoping that the political class wakes up, because if they don’t, the next thing that will happen will be much more dramatic.”
In addition to her Nobel Peace Prize nomination, Greta can add “magazine cover star” to her resumé: The teenager who helped inspire a slew of climate strikes across the planet is appearing on the cover of i-D as part of its “The Voice of a Generation” issue.
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