Teenager Thunberg angrily tells U.N. climate summit 'you have stolen my dreams'

[webfact]

Teenager Thunberg angrily tells U.N. climate summit 'you have stolen my dreams'

By Valerie Volcovici and Matthew Green

 

16-year-old Swedish Climate activist Greta Thunberg speaks at the 2019 United Nations Climate Action Summit at U.N. headquarters in New York City, New York, U.S., September 23, 2019. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri

 

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Teenage activist Greta Thunberg angrily denounced world leaders on Monday for failing to tackle climate change, unleashing the outrage felt by millions of her peers in the heart of the United Nations by demanding: "How dare you?"

 

The Swedish campaigner's brief address electrified the start of a summit aimed at mobilising government and business to break international paralysis over carbon emissions, which hit record highs last year despite decades of warnings from scientists.

 

"This is all wrong. I shouldn't be up here. I should be back in school on the other side of the ocean yet you all come to us young people for hope. How dare you?" said Thunberg, 16, her voice quavering with emotion.

 

"You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words," she said.

 

Teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg told world leaders at the opening of a United Nations conference on Monday that they had stolen her childhood with "empty words." Rough Cut (no reporter narration).

 

Inspired by Thunberg's solitary weekly protest outside the Swedish parliament a year ago, millions of young people poured onto the streets around the globe last Friday to demand governments attending the summit take emergency action.

 

"I was very struck by the emotion in the room when some of the young people spoke earlier," French President Emmanuel Macron told the U.N. Climate Action Summit. "I also want to play my role in listening to them. I think that no political decision maker can remain deaf to this call for justice between generations."

 

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who organised the one-day event to boost the 2015 Paris Agreement to combat global warming, had warned leaders only to turn up if they came armed with concrete action plans, not empty speeches.

 

"Nature is angry. And we fool ourselves if we think we can fool nature, because nature always strikes back, and around the world nature is striking back with fury," said Guterres, a former Portuguese prime minister.

 

"There is a cost to everything. But the biggest cost is doing nothing. The biggest cost is subsidising a dying fossil fuel industry, building more and more coal plants, and denying what is plain as day: that we are in a deep climate hole, and to get out we must first stop digging," he said.

 

Nevertheless, there were few new proposals from governments for the kind of rapid change climate scientists say is now needed to avert devastating impacts from warming. The summit has, by contrast, been marked by a flurry of pledges from business, pension funds, insurers and banks to do more.

 

"We have broken the cycle of life," said Emmanuel Faber, chief executive of French food group Danone <DANO.PA>, who announced a "One Planet" initiative with a group of 19 major food companies to transition towards more sustainable farming.

 

"We need your support for shifting agricultural subsidies from killing life into supporting biodiversity," Faber said.

 

TRUMP APPEARS

U.S. President Donald Trump, who questions climate science and has challenged every major U.S. regulation aimed at combating climate change, made a brief appearance in the audience of the summit along with Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. He did not speak but he listened to remarks by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

 

Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who serves as a U.N. special envoy on climate action, called out Trump's low-key appearance before he spoke on Monday: "Hopefully our deliberations will be helpful to you as you formulate climate policy," he said to audience laughter.

 

Merkel announced Germany would double its contribution to a U.N. fund to support less developed countries to combat climate change to 4 billion euros from 2 billion euros.

 

Among the day's other initial announcements was one from the Marshall Islands, whose president Hilda Heine said she would seek parliamentary approval to declare a climate crisis on the low-lying atoll, already grappling with sea level rise.

 

Heine said her country and New Zealand, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and others who form the "High Ambition" bloc at U.N. climate negotiations, will commit to achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

 

With climate impacts such as extreme weather, thawing permafrost and sea-level rise unfolding much faster than expected, scientists say the urgency of the crisis has intensified since the Paris accord was agreed.

 

The agreement will enter a crucial implementation phase next year after another round of negotiations in Chile in December.

 

Existing pledges to curb emissions are nowhere near enough to avert catastrophic warming, say scientists, who warn that failing to change course could ultimately put the survival of industrial societies at risk.

 

Laurence Tubiana, a former French diplomat and an architect of the Paris accord, said she drew some comfort from more ambitious pledges by a nucleus of political and business leaders.

 

"When you look at the emergency and you see the level of the response, of course I cannot be happy," Tubiana told reporters. "The golden nugget I see is this group of countries, companies and cities."

 

Over the past year, Guterres has called for no new coal plants to be built after 2020, urged a phase-out of fossil fuel subsidies and asked countries to map out how to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.

 

While some countries have made progress, some of the biggest emitting countries remain far behind, even as wildfires, heat waves and record temperatures have provided glimpses of the devastation that could lie in store in a warmer world.

 

In a measure of the gap between government action and the ever-louder alarms sounded by climate scientists, the United Nations Development Programme said that 14 nations representing a quarter of global emissions have signalled that they do not intend to revise current climate plans by 2020.

 

Pope Francis, in a message broadcast to the conference, called for honesty, responsibility and courage to face "one of the most serious and worrying phenomena of our time".

 

(Reporting by Matthew Green and Valerie Volcovici; additional reporting by Arshad Mohammed; editing by Mary Milliken and Grant McCool)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-09-24

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[Somtamnication]

Really? Another denier? She gives us all hope. 'nuff said.

[faraday]

If this climate change is real - & I doubt it is, then why are we still using plastic bottles?

 

How many of those er protesters use mobile phones, eat meat, drive cars etc? Most of them I expect.

 

Just wondering though....why were the Romans able to grow grapes in the North of England?

[Tug]

You go girl hold their feet to the fire make them face what’s happening so all of us can start making responsible changes and grow into a more sustainable world I’m proud of you kiddo!

[WinnieTheKhwai]

Not many people deny that things are warming up really (really) slowly.  But a significant number of people just don't give a hoot when certain areas become unlivable while others benefit hugely.  Personally I think Bangkok is already unlivable, but if it turns into a swamp and people move up a bit.. so what.

[faraday]

What "confuses" you about my post Chomper Higgot, I asked perfectly reasonable questions?

 

 

[canuckamuck]

We have stolen her childhood and dreams, lol. I wish George Soros was dumping millions on my behalf and giving me a world tour. 

I suppose the world is ripe to go all soft headed over a mind control puppet and hang on her ever word. Many people knew this was coming. Please put us all in chains and save us from ourselves, O great and glorious global overlords.

[TopDeadSenter]

51 minutes ago, webfact said:

Teenager Thunberg angrily tells U.N. climate summit 'you have stolen my dreams'

Small point that needs clarifying. It was Greta's parents that filled her head with confusion, hate and panic, ergo they "stole her dreams". Textbook child abuse really. When she gets bored of this climate change religion/cult, maybe she could try counting cards?

Edited September 23, 2019 by TopDeadSenter

[ezzra]

Every now and then a dreamer pops up thinking they can change the world by talking big, very very few have succeeded, many fail to realise that 'saving the world' it's not as easily done with talking and waving banners, and most of the times, it's not even up to the people that are in power, it's an evolutions of things in time and space and theses things can't be hurried up, they will happen when the right time will come...

Edited September 23, 2019 by ezzra

[Jingthing]

She's an interesting character. She's shaking things up. She's already become at least a footnote in history. But I think we might need a million Gretas to actually make a real difference and I don't see that happening. So the realistic thing oldies might be able to do for grandkids is to gift them far inland beachfront property and stock in asthma medication companies.

Just keeping it real.

Sent from my Lenovo A7020a48 using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[Scott]

Troll post removed.   Continue and face a suspension.  

 

 

[DannyCarlton]

13 minutes ago, TopDeadSenter said:

Small point that needs clarifying. It was Greta's parents that filled her head with confusion, hate and panic, ergo they "stole her dreams". Textbook child abuse really. When she gets bored of this climate change religion/cult, maybe she could try counting cards?

Actually, nothing could be further from the truth. It was her incessant debating with them on the subject that converted them to her climate change agenda. Many autistic people show signs of genious in a specific area. Greta has found her's. Her oratory powers are incredible, not for someone of her age, but for any age. When Greta steps up to the microphone, the world (including world leaders) sit foreward, hold their breath and listen. She can hold an audience like no one else. And, due to her autism, it's not forced, not rehearsed, it's pure Greta speaking directly from her heart.

 

Will it fade? Will she burn out? Who knows? Just sit and marvel whilst it lasts. Only a matter of time before she gets her Nobel Prize.

[Destiny1990]

Stop exploiting that child.

Bring her back to school away from the cameras.

[luckyluke]

4 minutes ago, Destiny1990 said:

Bring her back to school away from the cameras.

And first of all make her shut up. 

[FarFlungFalang]

If we kill this planet before we get off it we will have saved the rest of the universe from certain destruction.Always look on the bright side of life.

[Jingthing]

28 minutes ago, Destiny1990 said:

Stop exploiting that child.

Bring her back to school away from the cameras.

No. That's not fair. She is clearly authentic and sincere.

[DoctorG]

I know that I am going to hell for saying this but I actually laughed out loud whilst watching her speech. It is good that she is passionate about her ideology but the facial contortions just got to me I guess.

[RickBradford]

1 hour ago, canuckamuck said:

We have stolen her childhood and dreams, lol. I wish George Soros was dumping millions on my behalf and giving me a world tour. 

I suppose the world is ripe to go all soft headed over a mind control puppet and hang on her ever word. Many people knew this was coming. Please put us all in chains and save us from ourselves, O great and glorious global overlords.

Greta Thunberg is the perfect spokesperson for the modern "progressive" Green/Left.

 

Completely ignorant, yet totally convinced she is right. No wonder they all fawn over her.

[TooBigToFit]

I support her. She's sticking it to the same people that ruin everything in the world. We have leaders that don't know about the issues at all. Most of the posters here are old and most old people can't get it. I'm old too but I've always cared about the natural world. Anyways, if this forum had more people in their teens, 20s and 30s, we would be reading a lot more diverse opinions on this.

 

On a related note, this morning I caught a foot long python in my apartment building in Prathumthani. I put in in a container and left to work planning to drop it off in an area where it would have a chance to survive, I drove to the greenest areas nearby and let it go but even there it won't have much of a chance to live without human contact eventually.

[Sujo]

3 minutes ago, RickBradford said:

Greta Thunberg is the perfect spokesperson for the modern "progressive" Green/Left.

 

Completely ignorant, yet totally convinced she is right. No wonder they all fawn over her.

Im wondering why you only post on threads relating to climate. Hmmm. ????

[neeray]

8 minutes ago, DoctorG said:

I know that I am going to hell for saying this but I actually laughed out loud whilst watching her speech. It is good that she is passionate about her ideology but the facial contortions just got to me I guess.

The only deserving recipient of a LOL is you yourself.

[Scott]

Troll post removed.

 

[donnacha]

The whole movement has become hysterical.

The activists decided that projecting doomsday for the end of the century was not enough to get the masses to obey.

So, they brought doomsday forward to 2050. I noted the change with interest.

Clearly, that still was not enough, so, here we are. The world ends in 2030.

Regardless of the date, we are still being told that "99% of scientists" say it is so. To ask for specifics is to reveal yourself as a "denier", probably in the pay of big oil.

Activist teachers all over the planet are terrifying their students with this nonsense just as this autistic girl was terrified, and dragging them out to participate in street protests.

Should other people's children, entrusted to your care and who you are being paid to look after, really be used as political props?

I do not deny that human activities may be affecting the climate. Credible scientists believe that it is. As far as I can tell, however, none of them claim the world is ending in 11 years time, or the less-often stated claim that an irreversible turning-point will be reached in 11 years.

What is alarming is that, while denouncing anyone who asks for details as being "against science", the activist's own claims are entirely unsupported by any actual research. Again, not denying that human activities may be affecting the climate, simply astonished that no one seems to be asking why the timeline has shifted so radically - in particular, politicians and journalists appear to be genuinely terrified to ask what should be obvious questions.

Seriously, is this what social media has done to human brains?

Instead of calm, rational discussion of the available facts, you win control of society by simply shouting more hysterically and hiding your agenda behind a confused, deeply confused schoolgirl whose multiple mental issues have been written about extensively by her mother?

Can no one see that this is an obvious attempt to recreate the Malala phenomenon and harness it for a cynical, anti-people, anti-growth, anti-jobs, anti-nutrition, anti-poor countries agenda?

The world has real, pressing problems right now that we should be focusing on, that we actually have solutions for.

What has happened to the left over the past decade? It is all so insane now, everything is upside down.

 

Edited September 24, 2019 by donnacha

[Sujo]

Good for her, a real life experience at the UN is far better than sitting in a classroom. Thats why its never an issue for sportspeople taking time away from school etc.

 

Deniers hate her because they hate facts.

[AGareth2]

she is insane

[DannyCarlton]

1 minute ago, Sujo said:

Good for her, a real life experience at the UN is far better than sitting in a classroom. Thats why its never an issue for sportspeople taking time away from school etc.

 

Deniers hate her because they hate facts.

Greta is autistic. In her it manifests itself in Asbergers, depression and an eating disorder. Due to her illness, she rarely attended school and when she did, found it challenging. Due to her finding her vocation in life, she has her autism much more under control. She has travelled the world, met many notaries and has had adventures that others her age can only dream of. Better that than being a little Swedish girl, holed up in her bedroom, with severe mental health problems and on an endless downward spiral. I'm shure that she has learnt far more by participating in her crusade than she would ever have done curled up in her bedroom. Don't pity her, her crusade has been her saviour.

[zydeco]

18 minutes ago, TooBigToFit said:

On a related note, this morning I caught a foot long python in my apartment building in Prathumthani. I put in in a container

How dare you!

[RickBradford]

17 minutes ago, Sujo said:

Good for her, a real life experience at the UN is far better than sitting in a classroom. Thats why its never an issue for sportspeople taking time away from school etc.

 

Deniers hate her because they hate facts.

Thunberg doesn't present any facts.

 

She simply trots out the standard puppet-babble that you could read in any Greenpeace press release. That's not surprising, since her main handler, Jennifer Morgan was an executive at Greenpeace (and the World Wildlife Fund, and the World Resources Institute, and the E3G activist group.)

 

This is mere staged theatre, something for the press to lap up, but quite devoid of substance.

[Sujo]

1 minute ago, RickBradford said:

Thunberg doesn't present any facts.

 

She simply trots out the standard puppet-babble that you could read in any Greenpeace press release. That's not surprising, since her main handler, Jennifer Morgan was an executive at Greenpeace (and the World Wildlife Fund, and the World Resources Institute, and the E3G activist group.)

 

This is mere staged theatre, something for the press to lap up, but quite devoid of substance.

Anything pressuring world leaders to act on the settled science is a good thing.

[soalbundy]

26 minutes ago, Sujo said:

Im wondering why you only post on threads relating to climate. Hmmm. ????

Probably got shares in a coal mine