Greta Thunberg, the Swedish teenager who mobilizes young people for the climate

Radio France International health and wellbeing

March 1, 2019

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg is the new symbol of a generation dedicated to raising awareness of climate change in society and international organizations. Greta entered the public arena with a strong speech in December at the UN COP24 in Katowice, Poland. "You say that you love your children more than anything, but you are destroying your future before your eyes," Greta told the UN Convention.

By Andrea González.

Ranked as one of the most influential young women on the planet by American magazine Time, this 16-year-old girl has been doing since last September what she called "Friday for the Future," where she urges young people Swedish students have to change clbadrooms on the sidewalk in front of the Parliament in Stockholm one day a week. It is asking the authorities for more concrete actions in the face of climate change.

"If it was true, we would only talk about it"

The Swedish activist, diagnosed as Asperger at the age of 11, claims to have been inspired by a group of young Americans, who have used school absences to protest the continued shooting in recent years to the states. -United.

He was only eight years old when he heard about climate change in his school. I was impressed by the magnitude of the danger this could pose for everyone, so much so that I did not think it could be true.

"It was absolutely impossible for such a serious problem to threaten our very existence, if that is true we would only talk about it, but our leaders never do," Greta told Medium magazine. This reflection motivated her to investigate for six years on this subject, becoming today one of the most influential environmental activists in the world.

Climate change, the struggle that unites the youth of the world

But its fight against global warming did not spread overnight. His "climate strike" started alone when he decided to stand in front of the Swedish Parliament after the summer holidays marked by the dog's holiday. The next day, she decided to do the same and to her surprise, she was not the only one. There are tens of thousands of young people in the world today who respond, one way or another, to Greta 's call.

"We miss school because we did our homework." With this striking phrase, the young activist started a few days ago an exciting speech at a conference organized by the European Economic and Social Committee in Brussels. In her speech, the 16-year-old warned the EU that her efforts were not enough and added: "The European Union needs a reduction of 80% by 2030, which includes air and sea transport, aims twice as ambitious as the current one ".

March 15, international march for the planet

Although the young Swede is acclaimed by a large part of the international community for her actions in favor of climate, another party accuses her of being a "puppet" of some non-governmental organizations that now represent her.

Faced with this, Greta says that it is a way for politicians to distract attention from the real problem such as climate change and insists that "political leaders have squandered decades of energy". inaction and denial ".

A big international event, convened by the Swedish teenager, will take place on March 15th. Although they do not have any illusions about a concrete response from political leaders for this day, young people hope to continue to lobby with this type of action and to increase the debate on the issue. importance of the issue in the public opinion.

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