MILAN, Italy — A speech given by activist Greta Thunberg is going viral in which she criticizes world leaders over their handling of the climate crisis.
While speaking at the Youth4Climate summit in Milan, Italy, the 18-year-old accused leaders of being all talk and no action as climate change wreaks havoc around the world. Throughout her speech, Thunberg used the phrase “blah, blah, blah” to describe their “empty words.”
“There is no planet B. There is no planet blah – blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. This is not about some expensive, politically correct green act or bunny hugging or blah, blah, blah. Build Back Better – blah, blah, blah – green economy – blah, blah, blah,” said Thunberg. “Net-zero by 2050 – blah, blah, blah.”
Thunberg says we’ve heard the “blah, blah, blah” for 30 years now and she claims it hasn’t accomplished much. She also blamed the media for the inaction on climate change, saying it hasn’t challenged world leaders on the issue.
“Over 50% of all our CO2 emissions have occurred since 1990 and a third since 2005. All this while the media is reporting on what the leaders say they’re going to do, instead of what they’re actually doing, and then not holding leaders accountable for their action, or rather inaction,” she said. “And don’t get me wrong, we can still do this. Change is not only possible, but urgently necessary.”
Thunberg claims the world is speeding in the wrong direction.
“2021 is currently projected to experience the second-highest emission rise ever,” she said. “Only about 2% of governments’ recovery spendings have been allocated to clean energy measures. And according to a new report by the UN, global emissions are expected to rise by 16% by 2030 compared to 2010 levels.”
Though Thunber’s speech painted a bleak picture of where the world is heading, she also included some lines of hope, saying it’s not too late to address climate change head-on. Along with addressing leadership issues, she explained that people will need to change the way they’re living.
“But of course, we can still turn this around. It is highly possible. It will take drastic annual emission cuts unlike anything the world has ever seen. And as we don’t have the technological solutions that alone can deliver anything close to that. That means, we’ll have to change. We can no longer let the people in power decide what’s politically possible or not. We can no longer let the people in power decide what hope is. Hope is not passive. Hope is not blah, blah, blah. Hope is telling the truth. Hope is taking action. And hope always comes from the people,” said Thunberg.
Thunberg was joined at the three-day climate summit by around 400 other activists from 180 countries, like Vanessa Nakate. The summit will send its recommendations to a major United Nations climate summit in Glasgow that’s set to begin at the end of October, The Associated Press reports.