What Greta Thunberg should have said

[Proclaimer]

Greta Thunberg gained international attention and became a prominent figure in the climate movement after she started skipping school on Fridays in August 2018 to protest outside the Swedish Parliament, demanding immediate action on the climate crisis. She held a sign that read “Skolstrejk för klimatet” (“School strike for climate”).

Thunberg’s protest gained media attention in Sweden and eventually, her activism went viral on social media, inspiring other students around the world to join her movement, and she received support from various environmental organizations and celebrities.

In September 2018, she was invited to speak at a climate event in Stockholm, which was her first public speech. Her speech went viral and was shared widely on social media. After that, she was invited to speak at various events and conferences, including the United Nations Climate Action Summit in New York in September 2019, where she delivered her now-famous “How Dare You” speech partly quoted below:

“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. And yet I’m one of the lucky ones. People are suffering. People are dying. Entire ecosystems are collapsing. We are in the beginning of a mass extinction, and all you can talk about is money and fairy tales of eternal economic growth. How dare you!”

While many people consider Greta Thunberg’s speech to be an essential call to action, it also had the drawback of being divisive. Thunberg’s speech placed blame on adults and leaders for causing environmental destruction that would affect future generations, which some people interpreted as an attack on themselves and their culture. As a result, some people criticized her, calling her a privileged child who didn’t understand the experiences of those living in poverty who do not have access to the resources and opportunities that she had.

So what would have been a better speech? A divisive speech of course will go more viral than a non-divisive speech, and it will make you famous. But if the intention is to get everyone on board with your view, then a better speech would have been a more inclusive approach. This way, a speaker can engage a wider audience and communicate their message in a way that resonates with people from all backgrounds. Instead of placing blame on one or two particular groups, an inclusive speech would focus on the shared responsibility we all have to work towards a more sustainable future. In this way, the speech would be more likely to inspire people to take action and work together towards a common goal. So here is a my attempt at a more inclusive speech:

“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. This is great! In the past, previous generations like some of you lived more sustainable lives. They use to recycle packaging like glass bottles instead of using cheaper disposable packaging alternatives that pollute the planet. They use to grow their own food, which was both good for the environment and their health. Again, this is better for the planet, but it is also better for our health. They use to walk and bike more than jump in the car to travel shorter distances. Would it not be better to wind the clock back and adopt a similar lifestyle, but with the advantage of today’s green technology? I think we can all get onboard with this. And while I am fortunate enough to live comfortably, many people are still suffering, and entire ecosystems are threatened, it is worth noting that many individuals who care deeply about the environment are wealthy because they have the luxury of time and resources to focus on these important issues. So I think our goal should be to also alleviate poverty and make it possible for everyone to live well, but in an eco-friendly way. We need to lift people out of poverty and create an economy that allows everyone to thrive. This means they won’t need to cut down trees to keep warm or put waste products into rivers as they are too poor to deal with such things in a responsible way. Additionally, we should encourage the free market to provide solutions that protect the environment. So let’s consider adopting a lifestyle similar to that of older generations, where we eat less processed food, spend more time outdoors, use fewer electronic devices, and ride bicycles instead of driving cars. I challenge you to join me in this effort to preserve our planet and ourselves. We can do this together.

What Greta Thunberg should have said

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