Greta Thunberg meets Trudeau, tells him he's 'obviously not doing enough' to fight climate change
Greta Thunberg has spurred thousands of protestors across the globe, demanding that world leaders do more to fight increasing global temperatures. On September 23, Thunberg called out world leaders during a speech at the United Nations.
She slammed them for their lack of inaction when it came to meaningfully fighting climate change, asking "How dare you!" and even gave Donald Trump a now-viral 'death stare'.
"You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words. And yet I'm one of the lucky ones. People are suffering. People are dying. Entire ecosystems are collapsing. We are at the beginning of a mass extinction, and all you can talk about is money and fairy tales of eternal economic growth," she had said.
Thunberg continued her "Climate Strikes" in Canada on Friday, September 27, as she joined protestors in Montreal. On the sidelines, Thunberg met with Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, privately.
Later, during a press conference with local indigenous leaders, Thunberg shared that Prime Minister Trudeau was not doing enough to curb greenhouse gas emissions.
She said, "I try not to focus on the individuals and rather focus on the whole picture because of course it's easier to just blame someone and of course he has a lot of responsibility and he, of course, is not doing enough."
She added, "But we need to because this is such a huge problem. This is a system that is wrong. My message to all the politicians around the world is the same. Just listen and act on the current best available science".
Earlier this year, a national climate emergency was passed by parliamentarians in Canada. However, the day after, the government led by Trudeau, approved the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project, prompting Thunberg to call out the approval saying it is "shameful".
Canada is the fourth-largest producer and exporter of oil in the world, with most of the country's reserves in Alberta's oil sands. Canada's oil sands production accounts for 11% of the country's greenhouse gas emissions and 0.1% of global emissions.
However, according to a study published in April this year, the oil sands related emissions are highly underestimated.
At the same press conference, without naming Donald Trump who had sarcastically tweeted, "she seems like a very happy young girl looking forward to a bright and wonderful future", Thunberg slammed the US President.
She shared that she did not "understand why grown-ups would choose to mock children and teenagers for just communicating and acting on the science when they could do something good instead".
Justin Trudeau on his part has promised after meeting Thunberg during a press conference that should the Liberal government be re-elected, they would use the revenues from the Trans Mountain pipeline to pay for a $3-billion plan to combat climate change.
The move includes planting two billion trees over the next decade. This follows a landmark study by Swiss researchers that indicate planting trees to be the most efficient and cost-effective way to fight climate change.
At the rally in Montreal, Thunberg also said, "We’ve become too loud for people to handle so people want to silence us. We should also take that as a compliment." A man was arrested at the rally when he appeared to lunge at Prime Minister Trudeau who was walking with his wife and children, mingling with the crowd.