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CNN —
Greta Thunberg: Sixteen-year-old Swedish climate activist roasts Davos elite
Davos (CNN)While many delegates at the World Economic Forum arrive in their private jets, 16-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg took a 32-hour train from her home to Davos.
She's also been camping out, trading a luxury hotel stay for a tent in 0 degrees Fahrenheit.
And, in the process, she's been giving Davos a run for its money.
On Thursday, Thunberg gave an impromptu speech at a lunch with a star-studded guest list that included music stars
Bono and
Will.i.am, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, former Goldman Sachs President Gary Cohn, and an array of bankers and investors. She roasted them.
"Some people say that the climate crisis is something that we will have created, but that is not true, because if everyone is guilty then no one is to blame. And someone is to blame," Thunberg said flatly. "Some people, some companies, some decision-makers in particular, have known exactly what priceless values they have been sacrificing to continue making unimaginable amounts of
money. And I think many of you here today belong to that group of people."
There was a short pause in the room before Bono started clapping.
I was given the opportunity to speak at a lunch in Davos today... On the panel was Bono, Christiana Figueres, Jane Goodall, https://t.co/0SsuJbW9SN and Kengo Sakurada.
#wef pic.twitter.com/PpUwQwTotf
— Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) January 24, 2019
"It was pretty fun," Thunberg, who has made it her mission to bend the global elite into tackling the climate crisis, told CNN Business.
"I told them that they belong to that group of people who are most responsible and that the future of humankind rests in their hands, and they didn't know how to react."
The teenager, whose brown hair is pulled back in two braids, speaks quietly, but doesn't mince words when it comes to the irony of Davos' billionaires discussing curtailing carbon emissions.
"I think it's very insane and weird that people come here in private jets to discuss climate change. It's not reasonable," Thunberg said.
I was given the opportunity to speak at a lunch in Davos today... On the panel was Bono, Christiana Figueres, Jane Goodall, https://t.co/0SsuJbW9SN and Kengo Sakurada. #wef pic.twitter.com/PpUwQwTotf
— Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) January 24, 2019
"I would say, you have to practice as you preach otherwise people won't take you seriously."
And Thunberg lives by her ideals. She no longer travels by plane -- hence the 32-hour train journey -- and she eats a vegan diet. She's also made her parents do the same.
She has been unwavering in her dedication to the cause, staging weekly sit-ins outside the Swedish Parliament. She says she won't stop until Sweden is in line with the Paris Agreement, an accord that aims to limit a global temperature rise this century to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
The
planet has already hit the 1 degree Celsius mark.
"We will probably sit there for years to come," Thunberg says.
Since delivering an impassioned speech to world leaders at last month's United Nations climate talks in Poland, she's spurred protests by tens of thousands of
schoolchildren around the world. On Thursday, 35,000 students marched for the climate in Brussels.
"My message is that if we do not care about the climate crisis and if we do not act now then almost no other question is going to matter in the future," Thunberg, who has Asperger's syndrome, said. "Why should I be studying for a future that soon may not exist?"
A Belgian journalist just told me 35000 students are school striking in Brussels today.! Heroes!#ClimateStrike #Fridaysforfuture #schoolstrike4climate
https://t.co/n6gwy1GQ8p
— Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) January 24, 2019
This week, Thunberg co-authored a Washington Post op-ed titled, "Davos, this is outrageous," with Christiana Figueres, a Costa Rican diplomat who spearheaded the 2015 Paris climate accord. She joined Figueres and others on Friday for a panel on "preparing for climate disruption."
TALK
OF THE TOWN - A Swedish schoolgirl led a climate protest outside the summit of global CEOs and politicians at Davos, Switzerland on Friday.
Greta Thunberg sat down on the snow-covered ground outside the World Economic Forum (WEF) event in the Swiss alps, in a demonstration against world leaders’ inaction over climate change.
The teenager has now been on strike from school every Friday for 23 weeks, inspiring a wave of similar protests by young people across the world angered by perceived political failure to tackle the global issue.
Dozens of reporters, photographers, and camera crews surrounded the 16-year-old as she demonstrated while the closing sessions of the summit took place in a nearby conference centre.
Simultaneous demonstrations took place in public squares in other countries, including thousands of students in Berlin, Munich, and Brussels.
Thunberg received global attention when she began her protests outside the Swedish parliament last year.
After travelling to Davos on a 32-hour train and camping nearby — rather than jetting in and enjoying plush hotels with other guests — the teenager gave an eye-catching speech at an event on Thursday.
CNN reports that she launched a scathing attack on business chiefs in the room, telling them, “Some people say that the climate crisis is something that we will have created, but that is not true, because if everyone is guilty then no one is to blame. And someone is to blame.
“Some people, some companies, some decision-makers in particular, have known exactly what priceless values they have been sacrificing to continue making unimaginable amounts of money. And I think many of you here today belong to that group of people.”
Thunberg later tweeted that she had been invited to meet with IMF chief Christine Lagarde and Davos founder Klaus Schwab.
Flanked by CEOs, she kicked off her speech by urging members of the audience to treat climate change like the existential crisis that it is -- not just another problem to be solved in a boardroom meeting.
"I want you to feel the fear I feel every day. And act as if your house is on fire. Because it is."
Asked by CNN Business how she gets the strength to address a room full of the world's richest people, Thunberg said she harnesses her rage.
"I used to be angry at these people but now I'm not angry at them anymore ... I've sort of transformed that anger into doing things, so I use my anger as a sort of fuel," Thunberg said, looking outside as she paused to think. Outside the building, packed with businessmen in suits, are a few snow angels that Thunberg made earlier in the day. It's easy to forget she's only 16.
"Many people say that this is not an easy issue, we cannot just say that this is how it is, it's not black and white. But I say that this is black and white. Either we stop the emissions or we don't. There are no gray areas when it comes to survival."
By Ivana Kottasova and Eliza Mackintosh, CNN
SIX
STEPS TOWARD A COOLER PLANET
1.
TRANSPORT:
Phase out polluting vehicles. Governments aim to end the sale of
new petrol, and diesel vehicles by 2040 but have no infrastructure plan
nor commonality agreement between vehicle producers to support such ambition. Marine transport can be
virtually carbon
neutral with solar and wind power development on water.
2.
RENEWABLES:
Renewable energy should replace carbon-based fuels (coal, oil and
gas) in our electricity, heating and transport.
3.
HOUSING:
On site micro or macro generation is the best option, starting with
new build homes incorporating more timber
to provide a carbon lock.
4.
AGRICULTURE:
We need trees to absorb carbon emissions from a growing population,
essential air travel, and to build new homes. We should reduce food waste and
promote less
energy intensive eating habits such as No
Meat Mondays.
5.
INDUSTRY:
Factories should be aiming for solar heating and onsite renewable energy
generation, meshed with offsite renewables to become carbon neutral
manufacturing/
6.
POLITICS:
- National governing bodies need to adopt rules to eliminate
administrative wastages, to include scaling down spending on war
machines, educating the public and supporting sustainable social
policies that mesh with other cultures.
COP24 in
Poland
COP
25 CHILE 2019
     
     
     
LINKS
& REFERENCE
https://eznws.com/2019/01/27/greta-thunberg-took-a-32-hour-train-to-the-world-economic-forum/
https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/schoolgirl-greta-thunberg-leads-sit-protest-davos-climate-change-131101599.html?guccounter=1
https://edition.cnn.com/2019/01/25/europe/greta-thunberg-davos-world-economic-forum-intl/index.html
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/greta-thunberg-sixteen-year-old-swedish-climate-activist-roasts-davos-elite/ar-BBSIGpG
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