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Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg (C) takes part in a Fridays For Future protest in front of the Swedish Parliament (Riksdagen) in Stockholm on September 25, 2020. (Photo: Jonathan Nackstrand/AFP via Getty Images)
Teen climate leader Greta Thunberg on Thursday reiterated her demand that humanity end its inaction on the planetary emergency as she warned--five years after the Paris agreement was signed--the world is "speeding in the wrong direction" in terms of emission reductions.
With nothing less than a total "system change" needed, the 17-year-old Swede told viewers in a new video that she's "inviting you to be part of the solution."
Thunberg shared the 3-minute video on Twitter Thursday--two days before the Paris climate agreement's five-year anniversary.
While "a lot has happened" since the accord was finalized December 12, 2015 to limit global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius and pursue a goal of a 1.5 degrees Celsius temperature threshold, "the action needed is still nowhere in sight," said Thunberg.
In fact, she warned, "We are still speeding in the wrong direction."
Thunberg denounced global leaders' "hypothetical targets" for emissions reductions and "big speeches," because "when it comes to the immediate action we need, we are still in a state of complete denial."
She further stressed that the "climate and ecological crisis cannot be solved without system change. That's no longer an opinion. That's a fact."
"For too long," Thunberg continued, "we have been distancing ourselves from nature, mistreating the planet--our only home--living as if there was no tomorrow," and are now poised to blow past the 1.5 warming threshold "within 7 years, long before we will even have a chance to deliver on our 2030 or 2050 targets."
Despite that projection, Thunberg said that "there is hope because the people have not yet been made aware."
"We cannot solve a crisis without treating it as a crisis. Nor can we treat something like a crisis unless we understand the emergency. So let's make this our main priority. Let's unite and spread awareness," she said.
"Once we become aware, then we can act," Thunberg continued. "Then change will come."
"This is the solution," she said. "We are the hope. We, the people."
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Teen climate leader Greta Thunberg on Thursday reiterated her demand that humanity end its inaction on the planetary emergency as she warned--five years after the Paris agreement was signed--the world is "speeding in the wrong direction" in terms of emission reductions.
With nothing less than a total "system change" needed, the 17-year-old Swede told viewers in a new video that she's "inviting you to be part of the solution."
Thunberg shared the 3-minute video on Twitter Thursday--two days before the Paris climate agreement's five-year anniversary.
While "a lot has happened" since the accord was finalized December 12, 2015 to limit global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius and pursue a goal of a 1.5 degrees Celsius temperature threshold, "the action needed is still nowhere in sight," said Thunberg.
In fact, she warned, "We are still speeding in the wrong direction."
Thunberg denounced global leaders' "hypothetical targets" for emissions reductions and "big speeches," because "when it comes to the immediate action we need, we are still in a state of complete denial."
She further stressed that the "climate and ecological crisis cannot be solved without system change. That's no longer an opinion. That's a fact."
"For too long," Thunberg continued, "we have been distancing ourselves from nature, mistreating the planet--our only home--living as if there was no tomorrow," and are now poised to blow past the 1.5 warming threshold "within 7 years, long before we will even have a chance to deliver on our 2030 or 2050 targets."
Despite that projection, Thunberg said that "there is hope because the people have not yet been made aware."
"We cannot solve a crisis without treating it as a crisis. Nor can we treat something like a crisis unless we understand the emergency. So let's make this our main priority. Let's unite and spread awareness," she said.
"Once we become aware, then we can act," Thunberg continued. "Then change will come."
"This is the solution," she said. "We are the hope. We, the people."
Teen climate leader Greta Thunberg on Thursday reiterated her demand that humanity end its inaction on the planetary emergency as she warned--five years after the Paris agreement was signed--the world is "speeding in the wrong direction" in terms of emission reductions.
With nothing less than a total "system change" needed, the 17-year-old Swede told viewers in a new video that she's "inviting you to be part of the solution."
Thunberg shared the 3-minute video on Twitter Thursday--two days before the Paris climate agreement's five-year anniversary.
While "a lot has happened" since the accord was finalized December 12, 2015 to limit global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius and pursue a goal of a 1.5 degrees Celsius temperature threshold, "the action needed is still nowhere in sight," said Thunberg.
In fact, she warned, "We are still speeding in the wrong direction."
Thunberg denounced global leaders' "hypothetical targets" for emissions reductions and "big speeches," because "when it comes to the immediate action we need, we are still in a state of complete denial."
She further stressed that the "climate and ecological crisis cannot be solved without system change. That's no longer an opinion. That's a fact."
"For too long," Thunberg continued, "we have been distancing ourselves from nature, mistreating the planet--our only home--living as if there was no tomorrow," and are now poised to blow past the 1.5 warming threshold "within 7 years, long before we will even have a chance to deliver on our 2030 or 2050 targets."
Despite that projection, Thunberg said that "there is hope because the people have not yet been made aware."
"We cannot solve a crisis without treating it as a crisis. Nor can we treat something like a crisis unless we understand the emergency. So let's make this our main priority. Let's unite and spread awareness," she said.
"Once we become aware, then we can act," Thunberg continued. "Then change will come."
"This is the solution," she said. "We are the hope. We, the people."