The 19-year-old Swedish activist has announced that as well as tackling her usual area of climate action and awareness-spreading, she has now thrown her weight behind defeating the West’s “oppressive” capitalist system.
Calling for a “system-wide transformation” at her book launch in London, she claimed that the world’s current “normal” – dictated by the people in power – has caused the climate breakdown.
She said: “We are never going back to normal again because ‘normal’ was already a crisis. What we refer to as normal is an extreme system built on the exploitation of people and the planet.
“It is a system defined by colonialism, imperialism, oppression and genocide by the so-called global North to accumulate wealth that still shapes our current world order.”
Ms Thunberg added: “If economic growth is our only priority, then what we are experiencing now should be exactly what we should be expecting.”
Appearing at London’s Royal Festival Hall to launch her new book, The Climate Book, on Sunday night, she decided to venture into political waters in her speech – having previously avoided doing so.
Released last week, the book includes around 100 contributions from various climate experts, including writer Naomi Klein, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, chief of the World Health Organization, and Thomas Piketty, the economist.
Expressing views that seemed more radical than in the past, she added that the climate crisis “has its roots in racist, oppressive extractivism that is exploiting both people and the planet to maximise short-term profits for a few”.
People were quick to point out the political emphasis on social media, with one best-selling author saying “this is proof that Greta hates capitalism for reasons that have nothing whatsoever to do with climate change”.
WATCH VIDEO BELOW:
”We are still here, and we are not planning on going anywhere. Young people all over the world are stepping up, showing that our leaders messed with the wrong generation.”
— Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) November 2, 2022
My full speech from The Climate Event at Southbank Centre this Sunday is here: https://t.co/d9WfUbCwSQ pic.twitter.com/OwZcCxDHXI
Michael Shellenberger, an American author, posted on Twitter that the “whole capitalist system” Ms Thunberg referred to has led to larger food surpluses than at any point in history, average human life expectancy to rise from 30 to 70 and a drop in total deaths from natural disasters.
Greta Thunberg used to say her goal was to protect the planet from climate change but she now admits it’s to overthrow “the whole capitalist system,” which she says is responsible for “imperialism, oppression, genocide.. racist, oppressive extractionism”https://t.co/MwzC3IRDn0
— Michael Shellenberger (@ShellenbergerMD) November 1, 2022
Ms Thunberg told Samira Ahmed, the BBC journalist, during a question and answer part of the evening that “fascist movements offering easy, false solutions and scapegoats to complex problems are growing and becoming more normalised”.
When asked by Ms Ahmed whether she thought it was as simple as making laws that outlaw things, she responded: “There are many [things we can do], but while we do these things that we can do within our current system, we have to realise that we need a system-wide transformation.
“We need to change everything because right now our current system is on a collision course with the future of humanity and the future of our civilization”.
Ms Thunberg also described the upcoming Cop27 as a forum for “greenwashing” and said she would not be attending.
The teenager, who is widely hailed as the world’s spokesman for climate change, shot to worldwide fame after attending her first United Nations climate conference in 2018, when the then 15-year-old said: “I expected it to be more action and less talking.”
During the question and answer session on Sunday, she said: “I’m not going to Cop27 for many reasons, but the space for civil society this year is extremely limited.”
This year’s conference, taking place from Nov 6 to 18 in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, will see world leaders – including Rishi Sunak – gather to discuss the pressing climate crisis.
“Of course, it’s very symbolic that it’s held in a tourist centre – a tourist paradise – in a country that violates most of the basic human rights – and many world leaders are too busy to go there,” she added.
Addressing the coverage of her political take in the new book on Wednesday morning, she posted on Twitter:
The climate deniers and delayers are so desperate and feel so threatened that they simply make up their own “quotes” from pure lies and fantasies. This is what I have said about systems and ideologies: pic.twitter.com/FNacu4EYZv
— Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) November 2, 2022
Ms. Thunberg attached an image of an excerpt from the book alongside the post, which she said was her take on “systems and ideologies”.
Stupidity on two legs
Its a shame Ms. Thunberg (Dumbberg) does not know who the number 1 climate polluter is – China. And they are not capitalists, they are communists, and claim they are not imperialists but I would challenge that based on their behavior in the last 5 years. China puts out much more greenhouse gas than the USA. Maybe she should stop taking talking points from her parents and other empty talking heads – and do her own research.
That’s why most know her as Great Dumberg or simply as “DUH” ! This kid is the poster child for no more homely kids .
Looks like another blind godless version of the erosion of society as a whole. But only God has the final say not her, me or anyone else!
Notably, none of these so-called “climate experts” are anything other than destructive “fanatics” and that includes Thunberg, who, by her own admission, merely wants to “destroy capitalism” – – -the very engine that runs the world economy. Stupid is, just that, “stupid” – – -sadly, it cannot be “fixed”.
Ms. Thunberg,
STFU! When you start stdying the world and see who is the biggest contributor to pollution, CHINA, go and see how far you get with that country, Zilch! QUIT YOUR PREACHING ON IDEAS THAT ARE RIDICULOUS!
IF MANKIND WERE TOTALLY WIPED OFF THIS PLANET, THE PLANET WILL RECOVER AND ADJUST. STUDY THE RESULTS OF THE AREA AROUND CHERNOBYL AS WORST CASE SCENARIO HOW IT HAS RECOVERED IN SPITE OF THE CIRCUMSTANCES. YOU CAN’T POSSIBLY BE THIS IGNORANT AND STUPUD!
IT’S AMAZING HOW YOUR IGNORANCE AND LACK OF EDUCATION CAN HAVE A MASS OF SHEEP LISTENING TO YOU. MANY OF US HAVE LIVED A LOT LONGER AND KNOW WHERE THE PROBLEMS ARE OCCURING! PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR OWN DAMN COUNTRY!
No one likes to recognize what they have done , they only see what someone else has done, that’s why it’s only his story. Look at the person in the mirror and help make the change quit finding fault in someone who has an opinion assist in finding the solution
Capitalism has allowed her and her parents to reap MILLIONS of dollars and the luxury to FLY and spout her nonsense. She needs to attend either university or a trade school and fade away. The Earth has cycles that it goes through…Why then is the ice caps THICKER, not THINNER? She and Al Gore need to be sat down and taught what goes on with the Environment. Of course, she forgets that CHINA is #1 in terms of POLLUTING THE ENVIRONMENT, not the rest of the world. Preach to China, dear silly child! See how far you can get with them before they throw you into prison for trying to tell them what to do.
I hope she is giving away her book and not making any money in that godforsaken capitalist system she wants to overthrow
Who listens to a 19 year old that really doesn’t know beef from bullfoot about the subject she is trying to get across to the public