Heads of state, chief executives of multinational corporations, Nobel prize winners and rock stars attend the annual World Economic Forum. But 16-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg likely made the biggest splash recently at the event that occurred in Davos, Switzerland from January 22 to 25.
“Some people say that the climate crisis is something that we will have created, but that is not true, because if everyone is guilty then no one is to blame. And someone is to blame,” Thunberg told bankers, U2 front man Bono and other luminaries during a panel, according to CNN.
“Some people, some companies, some decision-makers in particular, have known exactly what priceless values they have been sacrificing to continue making unimaginable amounts of money. And I think many of you here today belong to that group of people.”
Only Bono clapped.
Thunberg took a 32-hour-long train ride to Davos because she refuses to take greenhouse gas-emitting jets. She pressured her parents to become vegan, like her. She stages weekly demonstrations in from of the Swedish parliament to compel lawmakers to adopt measures so that her Nordic country follows the Paris Agreement to curb climate change. She has written or co-written op-eds in the Washington Post and Guardian to publicize her cause.
Other students are following her example. In Switzerland, teens took the streets on January 18 to protest against their government’s alleged lack of progress in fighting climate change.
Image credit: WEF
