Greta Thunberg tells Australia to 'wake up and treat the climate emergency like an emergency'
ABC News
Thu 3 Nov 2022
Climate activist Greta Thunberg has called on Australia to "wake up and treat the climate emergency like an emergency".
Speaking from her home in Sweden to ABC's 7.30 program, Ms Thunberg issued a warning to Australians relying on politicians to deliver the actions required to save the planet.
"It seems like many people in Australia think that now we have a new government, everything we'll be fine," she said ahead of the annual UN Climate Change Conference, opening in Egypt on November 6.
"Of course, that is very, very far from true."
Greta Thunberg speaking to a crowd at a rally.
Climate activist Greta Thunberg attended a Fridays for Future climate strike ahead of last year's COP26 meeting.
Ms Thunberg routinely distances herself from any political affiliation, and argued that all sides of politics had failed to honestly confront the climate emergency.
"I have never supported any party," she told 7.30
"People sometimes assume that I'm supporting Green parties and so on, which is of course not true. All the current ideologies and party politics have failed to create the necessary changes."
COP27 'a scam', says Thunberg
'Not a secret that COP26 is a failure': Greta Thunberg attacks world leaders' inaction.
More than 35,000 delegates will attend the meeting at Sharm el Sheikh, along with more than 100 world leaders, including US President Joe Biden.
Energy Minister Chris Bowen will lead the Australian delegation.
However, Ms Thunberg was sceptical about the potential outcomes from the UN climate talks.
She told 7.30 that world leaders use words "to make it seem like they're doing something when they're not."
At last year's summit in Glasgow, almost 200 nations agreed to "revisit and strengthen" their emissions targets by the end of this year.
By September, only 24 nations had filed plans with the UN describing how they would reach their new targets. Side agreements at the last conference included non-binding commitments to reduce methane emissions and deforestation.
According to Ms Thunberg, climate summits "serve as an opportunity for big polluters to greenwash themselves … using PR tactics and communication strategies disguised as politics".
"The way that COP27 would, for me, be considered a success or a step forward would be that more people realise what a scam it actually is."
Not too late to join a global movement
Now 19 years of age, Ms Thunberg said she was neither a pessimist nor optimist when it came to the climate crisis.
"I always say that I'm a realist. It is definitely possible for us to avoid the worst consequences of this crisis, but not if we continue like now," she said.
Greta Thunberg says she is a 'realist' about saving the climate.(ABC News/7.30)
Ms Thunberg has produced a new book, The Climate Book, bringing together scientists, experts, and storytellers to urge individuals to become part of a global movement. In it, she argues that far from being too late, anyone joining the movement now would be a pioneer.
A book cover with lines of blue and red on the front.
Greta Thunberg's new book urges individuals to become part of a global movement.(Supplied)
Four years ago, aged 15, Ms Thunberg set off a worldwide movement when she staged a school "strike" in her home country of Sweden, hoping it would raise awareness of the climate emergency.
The goal of that initial strike, she said, was to educate people, and she believes her direct way of speaking has been central to her success.
"I tell it as it is, I don't try to package any message in order to fit anyone else's view in order to please anyone," she said.
That style, she said, was at odds with what communication experts were urging at the time.
"Even though many of the communication experts say we need to be optimistic in our reporting, and we need to communicate in an optimistic way, in a positive way, that doesn't really go in line with the fact that we are facing an existential crisis."
Ms Thunberg said efforts by individuals would not save the planet.
"Even if I do everything right, I still exceed the planetary boundaries just by existing and just by paying taxes. So it's impossible to live sustainably today," she said.
The latest analysis by the United Nations found there was no credible pathway to limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees of warming.
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