"How dare you!" are the poignant words of pioneering climate change activist, Greta Thunberg, who addressed world leaders at the U.N. Climate Summit last night. Her powerful, stinging speech brought home the reality of the sheer ignorance of our world leaders when it comes to climate change, and their inability to do anything about it, or even see it as an issue in the first place.
During the event, Thunberg crossed paths with Donald Trump. As you can imagine, she isn't exactly his biggest fan and shot him the most amazing death stare we think we've ever seen. In fact, it was so good, that it's become a bit of an internet sensation.
Despite the teenage activist receiving a fair share of backlash, one entrepreneur has shown a great deal of respect towards her. Keep scrolling to learn more...
Greta Thunberg has become the face of the youth climate change movement.
The Swedish sixteen-year-old has been responsible for the global school strike movement, which began with weekly friday school strikes to protest for climate change action.Just a year ago, she was relatively unknown.
The teen sat outside the building during school hours for 3 weeks.
Her demands were that the Swedish government reduce carbon emissions in accordance with the Paris Agreement. By sacrificing her education to protest for action, the teen began to conjure up attention and gain traction online.Her unwavering commitment to the environment has woken the rest of the world.
While a little over a year ago, the name "Greta Thunberg" was relatively unknown, now, her's is the first name that springs to mind when you think of the climate change movement.Thunberg is known for delivering blistering, matter-of-fact speeches about the urgency of what she calls the "climate crisis."
If we fast-forward to now, Thunberg continues to hold governments accountable during her powerful talks, which have seen her nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize and placed in TIME's top one-hundred influential people in the world list.Her message is clear: we need to act now.
Having whipped up a gigantic global youth movement, climate change is finally getting the attention it deserves, but Thunberg still believes that governments are the ones who still aren't listening. According to the United Nations, humanity has under twelve years to prevent a climate change crisis. A report released by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) at the end of 2018 called for immediate “unprecedented changes" to all aspects of society.If we do not act, the future, if there is one at all, will be very bleak.
Rising global temperatures pose a high risk of social and environmental disasters, including floods, drought, wildfires, and food shortages for millions of people across our planet.Thunberg has gone to great lengths to fight her cause.
In July, the teen ditched environmentally damaging air travel and sailed across the Atlantic to attend the U.N. climate summits in the U.S. and Chile.Little by little, her trailblazing activism seems to be sinking in.
According to Live Kindly, earlier this year, Mohammed Barkindo — the secretary-general of OPEC (the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) — acknowledged public opinion surrounding the climate crisis as a threat to the oil industry.And her youth school strike movement is growing on a mass scale.
On September 20, millions around the world, from London to New York, Sydney to Colombia, ditched the classroom to peacefully protest for climate action in what Thunberg dubs "Fridays for Future."But, Thunberg's movement has been met with waves of criticism.
Her activism has seen her labelled "melodramatic" amongst other things, as well as others saying that she is being used as a political shield.But her critics don't phase her...
On my way to the United Nations. Today I’m speaking in the General Assembly at the Climate Action Summit. This is s… https://t.co/MXRAyXjec0— Greta Thunberg (@Greta Thunberg)1569243289.0
The event is dedicated to world leaders sharing climate solutions and new pledges for climate action.
During her powerful speech, Thunberg highlighted how the science behind climate change has been "crystal clear" for over 3 decades. "I shouldn’t be up here. I should be back in school on the other side of the ocean. Yet you all come to us young people for hope? How dare you!" she said. "You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words."As she spoke, the teen got visibly emotional.
She concluded with a poignant message: change is coming, whether you like it or not.
After her speech, the teen activist happened to cross paths with Donald Trump in the lobby.
I’ll tell you one thing Greta Thunberg does not have and that’s a future in professional poker. https://t.co/cAznzjWbeW— 🏳️🌈 Max 🏳️🌈 (@🏳️🌈 Max 🏳️🌈)1569308707.0
The video has gone viral online.
When faced with one of the world's most powerful leaders, Thunberg remains fearless, and her death stare has become a somewhat internet sensation.As you'd expect, Donald Trump had something to say about the whole thing.
In usual Trump-style, he took to Twitter to seemingly mock the teen, writing "She seems like a very happy young girl looking forward to a bright and wonderful future. So nice to see!" above a video of her speech.His swipe radiated sarcasm.
@realDonaldTrump The President of the United States making a sarcastic, snide comment to make fun of a 16-year-old… https://t.co/GOHBf2wpum— Eugene Gu, MD (@Eugene Gu, MD)1569296379.0
Watch her full speech below:
Powerful, isn't it? We think so.But it seems as if this guest on Fox News is following in his president's footsteps.
However, it seemed to spiral into a direct attack on the activist.
This statement immediately made the others pipe up against him.
However, Knowles didn't give up his view despite being asked to "take it back."
Don't be fooled, some people may look like adults, but they haven't managed to shake off their childish habits.
But there is one entrepreneur who has demonstrated a liking towards Thunberg...
Musk is known to be passionate about climate change...
And he recently retweeted a tweet from Scientific American about Thunberg's role in the global climate change protests last week.Of course, it didn't take long for the haters to comment...
@sciam @elonmusk @GretaThunberg Yeah. Let's let a 16 year old determine world policy. I love you Elon, but this is wrong— Tad Denton 🥩🐑🥓🍳💧🧂 (@Tad Denton 🥩🐑🥓🍳💧🧂)1569020748.0
Musk was quick to respond to this narrow-minded comment...
@tdenton1138 @sciam @GretaThunberg A 16 year old who has better reasoning & more heart than the vast majority of political leaders— Elon Musk (@Elon Musk)1569021131.0