Published 10:59 IST, September 15th 2019
Greta Thunberg: youth activist leads climate change protest in the US
Activist Greta Thunberg leads protests on Climate Change in the US. After the splendid march at the White House, she now prepares protest in New York City
Greta Thunberg, the 16-year-old Swedish activist, led a protest on climate change outside the White House on September 13. She was joined by a large crowd of over 1500 protestors who raised their voice, calling out for immediate action to help the environment and reverse an alarming warming trend in average global temperatures. Thunberg has inspired a series of protests and school strikes that have given her international recognition. The fresh wave of demand for strict action against climate change and global warming has inspired youth, who are urging adults to not sabotage their future.
White House Protest
The massive protest around the White House saw the attendance of mostly school children. They called for immediate action from the world’s governments to halt global warming, reduce fossil fuel consumption and avert environmental catastrophe.
The young demonstrators chanted, “You can’t breathe money, you can’t drink oil." "Protect our future!"
They also carried banners and posters with catchy slogans. "Make Earth Cool Again", “People or Profit?”, "This is a crisis, act like it!", "Business, as usual, is not enough", were among the slogans written on the posters.
Several onlookers meanwhile shouted, "Thank you, Greta!" "We're all here for you — and the climate!" After the protesters marched around the White House, Greta Thunberg delivered a short speech, to tell the crowd she's grateful for their support and proud of them for coming to the march.
"Never give up," she told the protesters, adding, "See you next week, on September 20."
Future Protests in the US
Greta Thunberg plans to lead protest ahead of next week's U.N. Climate Action Summit in New York City. She will address the U.N. Climate Action Summit on Sept. 23. Before that, Greta Thunberg will be organizing an international protest in New York City on September 20. The protest is likely to be large, as the New York City's public school system, supporting the protest, announced that children who wanted to skip school to participate in the protest are more than welcome to. Moreover, Amnesty International Secretary General Kumi Naidoo has written a letter to more than 30,000 schools, urging them to allow their students to join the climate strikes.
Walk the Talk
Greta Thunberg believes in practising what she preaches. For that, she makes sure to lead by example, to set the course of exemplary behaviour. Last month, the young activist crossed the Atlantic Ocean in a solar-powered boat, landing in New York City on August 28. She chose the method of transport to avoid carbon emissions from jet travel.
Great Thuberg intends to spread awareness about the environmental changes by talking about why people must pay attention to Earth's climate. By boosting people's awareness of the dangers of climate change, Greta Thunberg wants them to use their voting power to elect leaders who will work to reduce carbon emissions and slow global warming. Along with that, she is attempting to target the leaders and people in power to ensure that they deal with the environment change pro-actively.
Greta Thunberg gave a TED Talk about the issue last November and one month later, she made a powerful speech at a U.N. climate change conference in Poland. She has now been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Updated 12:17 IST, September 15th 2019