It was a beautiful fall day in Stockholm, the capital city of Sweden, when a crowd of hundreds gathered outside the county’s Parliament building to catch a glimpse of a growing international sensation. For weeks, a 15-year old activist had been sitting outside this government building in protest of what she would call “a cry for help.” Audio Clip [1:17- 1:32] Here’s her words in English: “This is not a political text. Our school strike has nothing to do with party politics. Because the climate and the biosphere don’t care about our politics and our empty words for a single second. They only care about what we actually do. This is a cry for help.”

In today’s episode we will learn how one member of Generation Z is already using her voice to change our world. And doing it on a global stage in the face of fierce criticism. 

Greta Thunberg was 8 years-old when she learned about the issue of climate change. After the development of this interest she modified some of her habits, such as becoming vegan and refusing to travel by airplane, to help make a change and decrease her use of the gasses that increase global warming. However, after several years, Greta realized that these actions weren’t enough. So, in August of 2018, she started to skip her school classes every Friday so that she could sit outside the government’s Parliament building in protest of the inaction of her political leaders. Soon after, she was joined by other students and when the local news started to cover what was becoming known as a school strike for the current climate state, the coverage quickly went international. 

Her school strike for climate has grown into the Fridays for Future movement, a youth led organization that’s purpose is to spark action on climate change.

The clip shared at the beginning of this episode was 15-year old Greta speaking to a crowd of hundreds who had gathered either in support of her movement or they were simply passing by and wanted to see what was going on. No matter how they arrived to be in the growing crowd, what they heard that day was the opening words of a climate movement that would soon propel this young activist onto a world stage. This world stage would eventually lead Greta to giving a Ted Talk and meeting privately with a number of world leaders. Including former US President Barack Obama and the presidents or prime ministers of Canada, France, and Germany, even having the opportunity to meet Pope Francis in April of 2019. But, Greta’s journey to create awareness for the need to protect our global climate eventually led her to the biggest world stage where she spoke before world leaders at the United Nations.       

As the Friday for Future movement has grown, so has Greta’s voice. She has participated in a number of high profile climate protests and given impassioned speeches to supportive crowds, as well as, to unmoved government legislations. Perhaps her biggest moment, thus far, came on September 23rd, 2019.  When a member of our generation took on world leaders with a blistering speech at the United Nations Climate Action Summit. 

In her only 5 minute speech, Greta criticized political leaders from 70 countries on their failures to address and take action on our current climate state. By the end of this Summit, 70 countries committed to reaching net zero emissions (or carbon neutrality) by 2050. This is a great example of countries taking action, which Greta called for in her speech. 

Here’s my favorite part of Greta’s speech: Greta Thunberg UN Climate Action Summit [4:09- 4:28]. 

In this short segment, Greta uses the utmost amount of sharp speaking to reach her audience: world leaders. She says “you are failing us” and “we will never forgive you” to show how upset the current generation is about the leaders’ lack of solving this climate crisis, and how future generations will react to this substantial issue. Her harsh words are meant for this particular audience because the world leaders are the only ones that can make substantial changes to protect the environment through creating and passing legislation.

One aspect of Greta’s speech at the UN that should be pointed out was how a young 16 year old girl was severely throwing off the average age in that room of world leaders. It is empowering to see a member of our generation passionately speak and advocate for a topic as important as the global climate. Her words must have reached the hearts of several leaders in attendance, and I think more importantly, opened the eyes of people her age to show them the weight of our climate issues.

In the years that have followed, Greta Thunberg has received numerous honors and awards, including an honorary Fellowship of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society. She has also been named in Time's Magazine's 100 most influential people, making her the youngest Time Person of the Year. She has also been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019, 2020, and 2021. 

But activism and global fame come at a cost. Several world leaders have been critical of Greta’s movement and have even gone as far as to mock her. 

In late 2019, after meeting with Greta, Russian President Valdimer Putin criticized her as being "poorly informed", adding: "No one has explained to Greta that the modern world is complex and different and people in Africa or in many Asian countries want to live at the same wealth level as in Sweden." 

Also in 2019, Greta drew the attention of US President Donald Trump when he shared a video of Thunberg angrily addressing world leaders, along with her quote that "people are dying, entire ecosystems are collapsing. We are in the beginning of a mass extinction." President Trump took to Twitter to say that "She seems like a very happy young girl looking forward to a bright and wonderful future. So nice to see!" Greta reacted by changing her Twitter bio to match his description, while also adding on Twitter that she could not "understand why grown-ups would choose to mock children and teenagers for just communicating and acting on the science when they could do something good instead."

The feud continued in December of that year when President Trump mocked Thunberg again after she was named Person of the Year for 2019 by Time, tweeting: "So ridiculous. Greta must work on her Anger Management problem, then go to a good old fashioned movie with a friend! Chill Greta, Chill!" She responded again by changing her Twitter biography to: "A teenager working on her anger management problem. Currently chilling and watching a good old fashioned movie with a friend."

The Greta vs. Donald Twitter war hit its climax during the 2020 US presidential election. After President Trump's famous "STOP THE COUNT!" tweet on November 5th, 2020, Greta replied by saying: "So ridiculous. Donald must work on his Anger Management problem, then go to a good old fashioned movie with a friend! Chill Donald, Chill!"

I suspect that we have not seen the conclusion of this social media back and forth. But, one thing is for sure: Greta Thunberg’s advocacy and words have inspired a generation of climate activists and even those whose voices support other causes.  This younger generation, our generation, will only continue to add our voices to the fights we are most passionate about. Our impact and influence on society will only grow. And while protests are a strong sign of civic responsibility, so are the votes that this generation will cast when they reach the age of 18.

Thank you for joining me on this episode! Subscribe and tune into the next episode where we will break down the history of the Supreme Court Case, Roe versus Wade.