JoeBidenis notgoodfor environment ..he’sjusta bitlessbad thanTrump
Teenager tells why Sir David is a greater eco campaigner than her and why the world can’t afford to relax despite change in the White House
SIR David Attenborough is the British national treasure who has made us worry about the world following decades of natural world TV documentaries.
And Greta Thunberg is the young environmentalist who became famous for refusing to go to school and embracing activism.
But both have one goal – saving the planet.
They first met in 2019, on Skype. But the world’s most visible climate change warriors got together face to face for the Swedish teen’s documentary A Year to Change the World, which began on BBC One last night.
Greta, 18, said her meeting with Sir David, 94, in the UK last year was “truly remarkable” and “very encouraging”.
She added: “He said that young people like us have had an impact and as people are listening to us, we have to continue.
“That is very powerful to hear from someone like him. He is one of the people in the world who has made the most difference, who has been leading this fight so that is very encouraging to hear. I haven’t done anything compared to what he has done.”
However, many others in the green movement would disagree.
Greta, then 15, started her lone school strike on August 20, 2018, demanding the Swedish government reduce carbon in emissions in accordance with the Paris Agreement, and galvanised young activists.
She sat outside Swedish government building the Riksdag for three weeks with a sign saying “School Strike for Climate” and inspired other children to do the same.
Greta was thanked by the Pope, spoke at the UN Climate Action Summit in 2019 and was due to attend the UN Climate Change Conference in Chile the same year.
When it was moved to Spain because of civil unrest in the South American country, she refused to fly because of carbon emissions and instead sailed most of the way on a catamaran. But she made it to Madrid
and made her speech at COP25. However, she revealed last week that she will not be attending the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow in November, citing concerns about global vaccine inequality.
She said she would not attend “unless everyone can take part on the same terms”.
It commits countries to holding global temperature rises to “well below” 2C above pre-industrial levels, which will require greenhouse gas emissions to be cut to net zero by the second half of the century. In February, the US returned to the global climate accord as new president Joe Biden reversed a decision made by his predecessor Donald Trump, who had once tweeted that Greta needed “anger management”.
She attended the World Economic Forum in Davos last year, where Trump decried climate “prophets of doom”.
Later, Greta told leaders: “In case you hadn’t noticed, the world is currently on fire.”
When Trump lost the presidency, she tweeted: “He seems like a happy old man looking forward to a bright and wonderful future. So nice to see.”
It mirrored his tweet about her: “She seems like a very happy girl looking forward to a bright and wonderful future. So nice to see.”
However, Greta doesn’t want to get into a slanging match with anyone.
She said: “I try, as much as I can, not to speak about individuals because that’s what they do.
“They speak about me rather than the climate crisis itself. If I were to do that too, I would just be like they are. But of course it is very hilarious when they write and say these kinds of things.
“It’s a very clear sign they are seeing the climate movement as a threat and rather than speaking about the climate crisis itself, they try to shift the subject to someone like me – because then it becomes a question about me.”
On Biden, she said: “He is not good for the environment, but maybe he is a bit less worse than the previous administration.
“Of course, it could have an impact, it could make a big difference.
“As long as we don’t allow ourselves to relax, and think, ‘Oh, at least it’s better than before, this will be taken care of ’. It could be dangerous if we start to relax and stop putting pressure on him.”
However, Greta is still surprised at the impact she has had.
She said: “I still don’t really understand why people are actually listening to me.
“I’ve always been a shy, invisible girl at the back that no one listens to. I’ve always been very socially awkward and
In next week’s episode, she travels to Davos, gets frustrated at being pitted against Trump and meets Sir David. She also meets Polish miners who have lost their jobs and talk frankly to her