My name is Greta Thunberg. I am 15 years old, and I’m from Sweden. I speak on behalf of Climate Justice Now!
Many people say that Sweden is just a small country, and it doesn’t
matter what we do. But I’ve learned that you are never too small to make
a difference. And if a few children can get headlines all over the
world just by not going to school, then imagine what we could all do
together if we really wanted to.
But to do that, we have to speak clearly, no matter how uncomfortable
that may be. You only speak of green eternal economic growth because
you are too scared of being unpopular. You only talk about moving
forward with the same bad ideas that got us into this mess, even when
the only sensible thing to do is pull the emergency brake. You are not
mature enough to tell it like it is. Even that burden you leave to us
children.
But I don’t care about being popular. I care about climate justice
and the living planet. Our civilization is being sacrificed for the
opportunity of a very small number of people to continue making enormous
amounts of money. Our biosphere is being sacrificed so that rich people
in countries like mine can live in luxury. It is the sufferings of the
many which pay for the luxuries of the few.
The year 2078, I will celebrate my 75th birthday. If I have children,
maybe they will spend that day with me. Maybe they will ask me about
you. Maybe they will ask why you didn’t do anything while there still
was time to act. You say you love your children above all else, and yet
you are stealing their future in front of their very eyes.
Until you start focusing on what needs to be done, rather than what
is politically possible, there is no hope. We cannot solve a crisis
without treating it as a crisis. We need to keep the fossil fuels in the
ground, and we need to focus on equity. And if solutions within the
system are so impossible to find, then maybe we should change the system
itself.
We have not come here to beg world leaders to care. You have ignored
us in the past, and you will ignore us again. We have run out of
excuses, and we are running out of time. We have come here to let you
know that change is coming, whether you like it or not. The real power
belongs to the people. Thank you.
please make sure that wherever you’re at in life, you don’t treat it like a transitory period. don’t waste your college years wishing to already be graduated & have a job. don’t waste your single years wishing for someone to be in love with. if/when those things come, they will come in due time and they will be good. but there is nothing like looking back and feeling empty because you wasted literal years ignoring what you had because you were hoping for something better. while it’s important to better yourself and reach for your goals, don’t neglect the present because that’s where you are now and it’s your now that determines your future.
Friendly reminder to not punish yourself for creating.
Can you elaborate on what you mean by this?
I have a tendency to beat myself up whenever something I make doesn’t meet my expectations (which is always). The result is that finishing something = bad feelings: I am effectively punishing myself for having created something. The natural reaction to this punishment is an aversion to creation, meaning that my perfectionism is harming me, not only by causing me to despise what I do make and by impeding the creative process, but by attacking even my desire to create.
One of the things I’m most thankful for this year are the opportunities to try again because no matter what it is, there’s always the opportunity to try again if your heart wants something badly enough and if you’re brave enough to go out and get it.
Young folks want to change things to leave their mark in the world… old people resist those changes because they want to keep the marks they already made.
