Greta Thunberg – The girl heard around the world
With the rise of a new movement led by Swedish schoolgirl Greta Thunberg, the year 2018 marked a critical turning point in global climate activism. After receiving international notice, Thunberg’s “school strike for climate” sparked a wave of youth-led demonstrations calling for immediate action to combat climate change. With her famous remark, “The bigger your carbon footprint, the bigger your moral duty,” striking a chord with audiences all over the world, Thunberg’s passionate speeches at international forums and conventions highlighted the crucial importance of addressing climate change in contemporary society (The Guardian, 2019).
“According to the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), we are less than 12 years away from not being able to undo our mistakes. In that time, unprecedented changes in all aspects of society need to have taken place, including a reduction of our CO2 emissions by at least 50%.”
Beyond only speaking out, Thunberg’s activism included her personal commitment to cutting her own carbon footprint by giving up flying and switching to a vegan lifestyle. Her choice to give up flying and her appeal for others to follow suit brought attention to how energy-intensive flying is and how much it contributes to greenhouse gas emissions on a global scale. Due to Thunberg’s activities, there has been much discussion and introspection about the moral ramifications of personal lifestyle decisions in the face of climate change.
Her speaking out sparked global interest in environmental and sustainable practices piqued the youths interest in the topic, sparking conversations, protest, and calls for policy change. This is now known as the “Greta Effect” .
In terms of this archive, she is significant because she piqued the media and the youths interest of celebrities and the excessiveness of their general lifestyles. She even went as far as to call out the wealthy elites for their excessive use of jets that release obscene levels of carbon into the environment.
“We won’t let the rich sacrifice people and planet for their extreme lifestyles”
She understands that the change needed to save the planet takes more than collective action. It takes the people at the top who are extracting materials from the earth, and polluting the planet with chemicals to change their lifestyle practices to establish balance that works with the planets needs and no our individual ones. In her many protest she calls for the banning of all private jets due to them being “30 times more polluting than passenger airliners.”
