Activist Greta Thunberg told policymakers and business leaders that their inaction on the climate crisis was “fueling the flames by the hour,” in a speech at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos.
The 17-year-old reiterated her message from last year’s World Economic Forum but urged the audience to “act as if you loved your children above all else.”
Thunberg said she had been warned that telling people to panic, as she had done last year at the same event, was dangerous but quipped “don’t worry it’s fine I’ve done this before and I can assure you it doesn’t lead to anything.”
“I wonder what you will tell your children was the reason to fail and leave them facing a climate chaos that you knowingly brought upon them,” she said.
She said that leaders would not be able to deal with the climate crisis by “cheating or fiddling” with numbers or by offsetting emissions by getting someone else to plant trees in another country.
The climate activist also said parties across the political spectrum “have all failed” at tackling the problem. She added that “unlike you, my generation will not give up without a fight.”
