Treat climate change like the crisis it is, warns Greta on eve of TV series
GRETA THUNBERG has said the only way forward in the fight against climate change is to “treat the crisis like a crisis”.
The Swedish climate and environmental activist was speaking ahead of the airing of the BBC series Greta Thunberg: A Year To Change The World.
It follows her during a year off school in 2019 as she explored the science of global warming and challenged world leaders to take action.
Over three episodes the 18-year-old witnesses first hand the consequences of climate change and also meets climate scientists and experts, among them naturalist and broadcaster Sir David Attenborough.
Thunberg said: “I would like to see us starting to treat the crisis like a crisis, because that’s the only way forward.
“We can’t say ‘I would want them to do this, I would want them to shut down this, and I would want them to start this, and so on’ because, as long as that’s not coming from the people, as long as people are not demanding it, it’s undemocratic and democracy is the most powerful tool that we have. It’s the most precious thing that we have, which we need to take care of, and so what I would want is for us to treat the crisis like a crisis. That is the only way forward.”
Thunberg, who founded the School Strike for Climate, said meeting Sir David was “truly remarkable”.
She said: “It was an amazing opportunity. And it was something that I will never forget.
“I have spoken to him several times, I think – four times, but only online. And then I met him in person and it was truly remarkable. And it was something that I will never forget.”
The series begins on BBC One on Monday at 9pm.
I met him in person and it was something I’ll never forget. Greta Thunberg, speaking after talking with Sir David Attenborough.