Climate change as 'urgent' as coronavirus pandemic, says Greta Thunberg
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The 17-year-old has become a global figurehead of the youth climate movement since she started her one-woman protests outside the Swedish parliament in 2018.
Teen climate activist Greta Thunberg on Saturday said that climate change is as ''urgent'' as the coronavirus crisis that has been ravaging the world.
She doesn't think any "green recovery plan" will solve the crisis alone and she says the world is now passing a "social tipping point" on climate and issues such as Black Lives Matter.
"People are starting to realise that we cannot keep looking away from these things", says Ms Thunberg, "we cannot keep sweeping these injustices under the carpet".
She says lockdown has given her time to relax and reflect away from the public gaze.
Preparing for her appearance before the UN General Assembly last fall, Greta Thunberg found herself constantly interrupted by world leaders, including U.N. chief Antonio Guterres and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who had formed a queue to speak to her and take selfies.
“Jacinda Ardern, the prime minister of New Zealand, waits in line but doesn’t quite make it before it’s time for the event to start,” Thunberg recalls.
Such surreal memories for a teenager form the opening to a 75-minute monologue broadcast on Swedish public radio Saturday that soon shifts to the serious matter of climate change that’s at the heart of Thunberg’s work.
The 17-year-old has become a global figurehead of the youth climate movement since she started her one-woman protests outside the Swedish parliament in 2018.