Another two years lost to climate inaction, says Greta Thunberg

Two years on from her first school strike, activist attacks ‘ignorance and
unawareness’

   - Greta Thunberg: the world is still in a state of climate crisis denial
   <https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/aug/19/climate-crisis-leaders-greta-thunberg>

[image: Mural of Greta Thunberg]
A mural of Greta Thunberg in Bristol. Photograph: Andrew Matthews/PA
Damian Carrington
<https://www.theguardian.com/profile/damiancarrington> Environment
editor
@dpcarrington <https://www.twitter.com/dpcarrington>
Published onWed 19 Aug 2020 06.00 BST

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Two years on from Greta Thunberg’s first solo school strike
<https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/sep/01/swedish-15-year-old-cutting-class-to-fight-the-climate-crisis>
for
the climate, she says the world has wasted the time by failing to take the
necessary action on the crisis.

Thunberg’s strike inspired a global movement
<https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/sep/27/climate-crisis-6-million-people-join-latest-wave-of-worldwide-protests>,
and on Thursday she and other leading school strikers will meet Angela
Merkel, the chancellor of Germany, which holds the rotating presidency of
the European council. They will demand a halt to all fossil fuel
investments and subsidies and the establishment of annual, binding carbon
budgets based on the best science.

“Looking back [over two years], a lot has happened. Many millions have
taken to the streets … and on 28 November 2019, the European parliament
declared a climate and environmental emergency
<https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/28/eu-parliament-declares-climate-emergency>,”
Thunberg said in an article for the Guardian
<https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/aug/19/climate-crisis-leaders-greta-thunberg>
with
fellow strikers Luisa Neubauer, Anuna de Wever and Adélaïde Charlier.
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“But over these last two years, the world has also emitted over 80bn tonnes
of CO2. We have seen continuous natural disasters taking place across the
globe. Many lives and livelihoods have been lost, and this is only the very
beginning.”

They said leaders were speaking of an “existential crisis”, yet “when it
comes to action, we are still in a state of denial. The gap between what we
need to do and what’s actually being done is widening by the minute.
Effectively, we have lost another two crucial years to political inaction.”

Thunberg and her colleagues said fighting the climate emergency must
involve rich nations stopping some of their polluting activities. “However,
it’s a fact which most people refuse to accept. Just the thought of being
in a crisis that we cannot buy, build or invest our way out of seems to
create some kind of collective mental short-circuit. This mix of ignorance,
denial and unawareness is the very heart of the problem,” they said.

The trillions of dollars being spent by governments in response to the
coronavirus pandemic are seen as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to put
the world on course to halt global heating, with economists
<https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/may/05/green-stimulus-can-repair-global-economy-and-climate-study-says>,
scientists and health experts
<https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/may/26/world-health-leaders-urge-green-recovery-from-coronavirus-crisis>
all
saying the benefits
<https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jul/15/nature-led-coronavirus-recovery-could-create-10tn-a-year-says-wef>
would
outweigh the costs.

However, G20 governments’ rescue packages are giving significantly more
support to fossil fuels
<https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jul/15/governments-put-green-recovery-on-the-backburner>
than
to low-carbon energy. Germany’s recovery plan includes €40bn for climate
measures
<https://www.businessgreen.com/news/4016109/green-recovery-germany-unveils-plans-eur40bn-climate-spending-surge>
such
as electric vehicles, public transport and energy efficiency, and has been
praised by green groups. But elsewhere, too little is being done, Thunberg
and colleagues said.

“Even a child can see that the policies of today are incompatible with the
current best available science,” they said.

Scientists calculate that global carbon emissions must be cut by half by
the end of this decade if humanity is to have a reasonable chance of
keeping temperature rises to below 1.5C, the limit set in the Paris climate
deal. Drops in emissions during coronavirus lockdowns are only a small blip
in a long-term rising trend and will have a “negligible” effect
<https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/aug/07/covid-19-lockdown-will-have-negligible-impact-on-climate-crisis-study>
on
the climate crisis, researchers say.

“We understand the world is complicated and that what we are asking for may
not be easy or seem unrealistic,” said the school strikers. “But it is much
more unrealistic to believe that our societies would be able to survive the
global heating we’re heading for. We are inevitably going to have to
fundamentally change, one way or another. The question is: will the changes
be on our terms, or on nature’s terms?”
80 days to save the Earth …

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