Climate activist Greta Thunberg opens up about how the media portrays her and what needs to be done to ensure the survival of our species.
The 19-year-old eco-activist, who rose to fame after helping organise climate strikes while at school, opened up about having a fun side and ‘just being crazy’ with her peers in a candid new interview.
Talking to ELLE UK, the campaigner – whose book The Climate Book is coming out next month – also got candid about how her Asperger’s Syndrome diagnosis helps her wade through ‘the bulls**t’ of political conversation around the climate crisis. Addressing how she is perceived, Greta said: “People seem to think of me as an angry teenager – they obviously haven’t met me. At least two or three times a day I get laughing attacks where I can’t breathe. It can be anything.”
The young activist also touched on feeling close with her fellow campaigning peers – who she sees as ‘very close friends’. “Many in the climate movement are very special, in a good way, very different from the norm,’ she explained. ‘It is amazing that we have found this space [where] we can be ourselves. And, at least in my experience, we are very welcoming.” Greta revealed that they have group chats where they ‘are just being crazy’ and do things ‘to not be so serious all the time’. She added: ‘People often say, “Oh, you young people, you are the hope, you are the ones who are going to save the world
She dismissed the notion that people may say we are making ‘small steps in the right direction’ and insisted even more needs to be pushed for ‘even the bare minimum’. The activist, who is releasing The Climate Book this month, wants to stress that her key message is – ‘don’t listen to me’. “Listen to the scientists, listen to the experts, listen to those who are most affected,” she said. “I could talk about all these things, but I am a privileged white person who lives in Sweden. I don’t really have any story to tell, so it’s up to others who need to be heard to [talk about] these things.”
In June Greta addressed revellers at Glastonbury, warning them that they face a ‘total natural catastrophe’ driven by the ‘forces of greed’. She spoke from the Pyramid Stage, delivering a speech about climate change saying the crisis is ‘not the new normal’. She called out ‘lying’ political leaders, but insisted ‘we can still avoid the worse consequences’ and ‘together we can do the seemingly impossible’.
Greta added: “We are in the beginning of a climate and ecological emergency. This is not the new normal, this crisis will continue to get worse…until we prioritise people and planet over profits and greed.”
Original source: https://www.dailymail.co.uk
