Greta Thunberg doesn't want to be 'the only voice of the youth' at global climate change summit in Spain
Teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg, on Sunday, said that she did not want to be the only voice of youth at a global climate change summit in Spain. The 16-year-old Swedish environmentalist appeared somber as she left the Complutense University of Madrid after attending the climate summit event.
Thunberg, during the event, said that she wanted to take a secondary role at the two events she is set to attend in the second week of the summit. She said: "I don't want to be the only voice of youth at the summit," according to people present, the Daily Mail reported.
The activist appearance at the summit, which takes place from the 2nd to the 13th of December during the COP25 Climate Conference, came two days after she said that the global wave of Friday school strikes had "achieved nothing" as greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise. The teen said that although schoolchildren had been striking around the world, their efforts have "not translated into action" from governments.
Thunberg, who rose to popularity through her weekly Friday protest outside the Swedish parliament a year ago, inspired millions of people across the world to take to the streets in an effort to demand an emergency action on climate change from their governments. The climate crusader had crossed the Atlantic by boat to arrive for the climate talks in Madrid and also joined one of the Friday climate marches there. According to a municipal office in Madrid, nearly 15,000 people participated in the march.
"The current world leaders are betraying us and we will not let that happen anymore," the teen said in a speech to the protesters. "Change is coming whether you like it or not because we have no other choice."
Thunberg, at the UN conference earlier this year, addressed world leaders, slamming them for their inaction against climate change. "This is all wrong. I shouldn't be up here. I should be back in school on the other side of the ocean yet you all come to us young people for hope. How dare you? You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words," the teenager said.
Madrid is hosting the two-week climate change summit, with talks sponsored by the United Nations aimed at streamlining the rules on global carbon markets.