THE FACE OF CHANGE
Swedish teen warns world leaders
Climate change activist Greta Thunberg warned world leaders that “change is coming whether you like it or not” during a Vancouver climate strike on Friday that featured First Nations activists from across Canada.
Thunberg, 16, spoke from the steps of the Vancouver Art Gallery during the ninth climate strike organized by the Sustainabiliteens. The Metro Vancouver youth group has been staging Fridays for Future events inspired by Thunberg, who began going on strike from school on Fridays to protest government inaction on the climate crisis.
The Swedish teen travelled to North America by sailboat in August and has been criss-crossing North America in an electric car to speak with leaders and support local climate activism. Police estimated that about 12,000 people gathered outside the art gallery by the time Thunberg took the stage.
The event was billed as a “postelection” climate strike and followed a similar event on Sept. 27, when about 100,000 people gathered outside Vancouver city hall.
Thunberg expressed her amazement as she looked over the crowd from the gallery’s north steps following an earlier rally and march downtown.
The teen was surrounded by First Nations climate activists, many of whom travelled across Canada to join Thunberg in calling for government to act against climate change.
Chief Judy Wilson of the Neskonlith First Nation, near Kamloops, gave Thunberg a scarf adorned with a hummingbird, which the teen wore while speaking for about 10 minutes. Thunberg told the crowd that the millions of people participating in Fridays for Future events had given her hope.
She then ripped into world leaders for ignoring warnings from scientists about climate change for decades.
The teen cited a report by the Global Carbon Atlas, which found that global carbon dioxide emissions increased by about 65 per cent between 1990 and 2018.
“It is the year 2019 and the people in power are still acting as if there was no tomorrow,” Thunberg said. “We young people are telling them to stop doing that, to stop ignoring the consequences of their actions and inactions, to stop leaving their mess for someone else to clean up. Because we do not want to do it for them.”
Thunberg said that working together, climate strikers are an unstoppable “wave of change” that will constantly remind world leaders to act in response to the science. They will also hold the people responsible for the climate crisis accountable, she said.
“And if you feel threatened by that, then I have some very bad news for you,” Thunberg said.
“This is just the beginning. We will continue. Because change is coming, whether you like it or not.”
Thunberg also said she stood in solidarity with 15 young Canadians who had earlier in the day announced they are suing the federal government, alleging climate-change related harms.
An 18-year-old plaintiff, Sophia Sidarous, of the Metepenagiag First Nation, told the Vancouver crowd that the climate crisis threatened her way of life and the existence of the Mi’kmaq people.
Local salmon populations have almost disappeared and moose populations have declined sharply, she said.
“We have worked so hard to regain our cultural practices and heal our communities, only for the Canadian government to take actions that once again put us in danger,” Sidarous said.
“That is why I fight for my people, my culture and for our continued existence on our land.”
The court challenge calls on Ottawa to stop conduct that violates their charter rights and to implement a plan that reduces Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions “in a manner consistent with what best available science indicates is needed for the federal government to protect young Canadians, do its fair share to stabilize the climate system, and avert the catastrophic consequences of climate change.”