Climate activist Greta Thunberg visit spotlights lack of climate action in Davos

Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg on Thursday slammed corporate bigwigs meeting in Davos, Switzerland, for “fueling destruction of planet” by investing in fossil fuels and prioritizing short-term profits over people affected by climate crisis. Thunberg was joined by prominent young activists Vanessa Nakate, Helena Gualinga and Luisa Neubauer in a roundtable with International Energy Agency Executive Director Fatih Birol at World Economic Forum’s annual garing. Nakate, who at one point choked up, said “leers are playing games” with people's futures.

People in parts of world most affected by climate change are "clinging to ir lives and just trying to make it for anor day, to make it for anor week, to make it for anor hour, anor minute,” she said. Gualinga, an Ecuorian indigenous campaigner, said world is “taking a really dangerous path.”

activists brought a “cease and desist” letter calling on hes of fossil fuel companies to stop all new oil and natural gas projects, signed by nearly 900,000 people. Scientists say no new fossil fuel projects can be built if world is to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) in line with climate goals set in Paris in 2015.

Nakate ded that current levels of warming, which have reached up to 1.2 degrees Celsius (2.2 F), means it is “alrey a living hell for many communities across African continent, across Global South.” Activists have been increasingly critical of lack of action taken by governments and large corporations in recent years.

Climate and sustainability have increasingly been major mes of elite conclave in Davos, though it has faced criticism for being a talking shop that results in little direct action. This year, several sessions focused on transition from fossil fuels to clean energy alongside panels on slowing global economy, food insecurity and tech innovation. event kicked off with dozens of climate activists — some with clown makeup — braved snowfall on Sunday to wave banners and chant slogans at end of Davos Promene.

“ changes that we need are not very likely to come from inside (of Davos meeting), rar I believe y will come from bottom up,” Thunberg said. “Without massive public pressure from outside, at least in my experience, se people are going to go as far as y possibly can. As long as y can get away with it, y will continue to invest in fossil fuels, y will continue to throw people under bus for ir own gain.” Thunberg did not attend latest U.N. climate conference , or COP, in Egypt last year, but Nakate, Neubauer and Gualinga took part in protests and sessions at event.

“It should be those on frontlines and not privileged people like me” speaking to leers at high-level meetings, Thunberg said.

conference came under criticism in recent days for installing chief of Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. as its president for this year's event. “It just sends this message of actually not taking it seriously," Gualinga said. But U.S. climate envoy John Kerry Associated Press that he backs decision, citing Sultan al-Jaber's work on renewable energy projects.

“I think that Dr. Sultan al-Jaber is a terrific choice because he is he of company. That company knows it needs to transition,” Kerry said Sunday after attending an energy conference in Dubai. “He knows — and leership of UAE is committed to transitioning.”

Thunberg arrived in Davos from Germany where she participated in a demonstration in a town being cleared for expansion of a coal mine. Her boots were still covered in mud from protest. She and several or high-profile activists were removed by police from town on Tuesday .

“ level of action and frustration and anger that is re and one might even say desperation for me is a signal of what we need not only in Germany but around world,” German climate envoy Jennifer Morgan told AP on Wednesday.

Morgan said that Davos attendees “are major decision-makers that if y were to really understand 1.5 degree goal and take action that’s required, it would make a massive difference." But she acknowledged that while y have a role, “y're not answer.”

Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore sympathized with youth activists, saying he agreed with Thunberg's actions in Germany. Gore said Wednesday at Davos that re is a divide "between those who are old enough to be in positions of power and young people of this world.” He ded that climate activists “have come to conclusion that people in authority are not doing ir job.”