This is a post dedicated to Greta Thunberg. She needs no introduction, but for anyone who doesn’t know who she is, Greta is an inspiring Swedish environmental activist. I hope you enjoy learning about her. There are some resources at the bottom of this post where you can continue to learn more.
We humans are every bit a part of nature as our fellow fauna, but we often think and behave as though we are not. As we walk the earth, our actions have impacts and it’s up to us to make sure most of those impacts are positive.
In the Humans section of Tellurian Treasures, I celebrate those who embody the characteristics of what I would call a true ‘earthling’. These are the people who nurture and respect their connection to the natural world. They are careful to tread lightly on the earth, while developing their knowledge of the intricacies of nature. They then share this knowledge with others, creating a valuable legacy that we can all live by and look up to.
Who is Greta Thunberg?
Greta Thunberg is well known for challenging world leaders to tackle the climate crisis. She is now a world famous environmentalist. Her activism started after she convinced her parents to adopt lifestyle changes to reduce their families carbon footprint.
Then, at the age of 15, she began skipping school, to protest outside Swedish parliament, calling for action on climate change. Greta was inspired by the school strikes in Florida, USA, in protest of US Gun Laws in 2018. She saw this as an effective way to get attention in order to raise awareness of the issues she cares so deeply about, and so she staged her first-ever climate school strike in late summer. After missing three weeks of school, she finally started to gain the attention of Swedish Parliament. Since then, she has influenced a youth movement and coordinated multi-city protests involving millions of young people every year.
The movement has been named Fridays For Future and students around the world still protest on Friday’s for action on climate change. There is now a website dedicated to the movement with more information for anyone wishing to show support and get involved. The goal of the movement is to put pressure on policymakers, to encourage them to listen to the scientists, and take moral action to reduce global warming.
Greta has spoken at conferences, summits and protests, addressing world leaders with her eloquent and direct speeches. In 2019 she attended the UN Climate Action Summit. In order to avoid flying to the USA, she instead sailed across the Atlantic in a racing yacht to reduce the carbon footprint of her travels.
She was accompanied by Boris Herrmann, a German Yachtsman and their remarkable 3500 nautical mile journey took 15 days and gained worldwide media attention. The yacht Malizia II in which Greta made the crossing was built for round the world challenges, but it was far from a luxury vessel, with no kitchen, shower or toilet facilities. Solar panels and water turbines generate all the power required for lighting and communication. Along the way, she experienced a contrast in both the beauty and roughness of nature. She spoke of encountering dolphins and admiring spectacular nighttime views of the milky way, while stormy conditions delayed her planned arrival into New York by a day.
It was at the UN Climate Action Summit, that she uttered the famous words ‘how dare you’ in her speech.
“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! You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words. And yet I’m one of the lucky ones. People are suffering. People are dying. Entire ecosystems are collapsing. We are in the beginning of a mass extinction. And all you can talk about is money and fairytales of eternal economic growth. How dare you!”
Greta Thunberg, UN Climate Action Summit, 2019
Greta Thunberg has also spoken at the World Economic Forum, European Parliament, British Parliament, TEDxStockholm.
She has won multiple awards, including the International Children’s Peace Prize in 2019. Greta has received both strong support and strong criticism for her work, but her activism plays an important part in inspiring the next generation of leaders, to make choices that benefit the common good.
Find out more about Greta Thunberg
Visit the Friday’s For Future website to learn more about the global climate strike movement.
Follow Greta Thunberg on social media: Twitter | Instagram
Books:
Description from Hive.co.uk: The history-making, ground-breaking speeches of Greta Thunberg, the young activist who has become the voice of a generation ‘Everything needs to change. And it has to start today’ In August 2018 a fifteen-year-old Swedish girl, Greta Thunberg, decided not to go to school one day. Her actions ended up sparking a global movement for action against the climate crisis, inspiring millions of pupils to go on strike for our planet, forcing governments to listen, and earning her a Nobel Peace Prize nomination. This book brings you Greta in her own words, for the first time. Collecting her speeches that have made history across Europe, from the UN to mass street protests, No One Is Too Small to Make A Difference is a rallying cry for why we must all wake up and fight to protect the living planet, no matter how powerless we feel. Our future depends upon it.
Thank you for stopping by, have a beautiful day
~ Faine
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