Greta Thunberg
Climate activist Greta Thunberg pleads for the world to talk less about her and more about what she is saying…
One of the most famous teens on the planet (her influence on the world stage has been dubbed ‘ The Greta Effect’), climate activist Greta Thunberg appeared on GMB recently – and told presenter Ranvir Singh she’d had enough of being branded an ‘emotional, angry teenager’.
Ranvir was quizzing the 18-year-old Swede over appearing ‘emotional’ at certain points in her career, including in her documentary series, Greta Thunberg: A Year to Change the World, currently airing on BBC One.
‘ We’ve heard the science from academics but what we don’t often get is the tears, the deep emotion and empathy that you feel for the unfairness of climate change,’ suggested Ranvir.
Greta replied: ‘I think it’s the exact opposite, when we talk about climate… I get framed like an emotional, angry teenager. When, in fact, we should be looking at the science.’
She added: ‘They’re seeing the climate movement as a threat and… try to shift the subject to someone like me because it then becomes a question about me.’
A surprising forerunner to Greta, we learned this week, was Prince Philip. Vocal on many occasions that we need to do something about climate change to avoid millions dying in the future of lack of food and water, he let rip with frustration at a group of scientists as far back as 1970.
‘It’s totally useless for a lot of well-meaning people to wring their hands in conference and to point out the dangers of pollution or the destruction of the countryside if no one is willing or capable of taking any action,’ he said.
Now, Greta must run with this mantle – the girl whose journey began quite humbly aged 15, holding up a cardboard sign outside her school which read: ‘School strike for climate.’
It is, one senses, a fight she has only just begun and, like the Duke before her, will frustrate her at many turns… so let’s ask ourselves this: is it time to join her fight?