Vincent Wood @wood_vincent THE INDEPENDENT
Greta Thunberg has said it is up to young people to “be the adults in the room” over climate change as she issued a rallying cry to 30,000 environmental protestors in Bristol.
The 17-year-old warned that, despite the “beautiful words and promises“ from elected officials, not enough was being avert a climate catastrophe.
“I will not be silenced when the world is on fire,” she told the crowd at the Bristol Youth Strike 4 Climate Change.
The teenager was greeted to chants of her name from the crowd, many of them school pupils who have been taking part in regular walkouts to protest government inaction on global warming.
Greta, who arrived at Bristol Temple Meads train station on Friday morning, went on to join protestors in a march through the city centre.
Police had initially warned the event could be overrun by supporters, leading to safety issues. In a response, the youth strike’s organisers said they had “no time to be patronised”.
Taking aim at politicians, Greta added: “Once again, they sweep their mess under the rug for us – young people, their children – to clean up for them.
“But we must continue and we have to be patient. Remember that the changes required will not happen overnight since the politics and solutions needs are far from sight.”
The teenager said she had chosen to appear in the southwest city due to the environmental movement being “particularly strong here”.
More people would join Greta Thunberg if they could afford it
Her speech marked the high point of the 10th youth strike to be held in the city, a format emulated across the globe and inspired by Greta’s initial protests in which she sat in solitude outside the Swedish parliament in 2018 to pressure the government into action.
“We will not be silenced because we are the change, and change is coming whether you like it or not,” she told the crowd.
“This emergency is being completely ignored by the politicians, the media and those in power.
“Basically, nothing is being done to halt this crisis despite all the beautiful words and promises from our elected officials.
“So what did you do during this crucial time? I will not be silenced when the world is on fire.”
She was preceded on stage by Mya-Rose Craig, the 17-year-old birdwatcher and environmentalist who earlier this month became the youngest person to receive an honourary doctorate from the University of Bristol.
“We have to engage with all of our communities in order to properly fight climate change.” she said.
“An unequal world can never be a sustainable one.”
Additional reporting by PA
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More people would join Greta Thunberg to protest climate change if they could afford it
I wanted to join the protests last year and be in Bristol this week but I can't take time off work or risk losing my job
Last year, I wasn’t able to go down to London to join the International Rebellion or even the Northern Rebellion in Manchester, where I live. I contemplated pulling a sicky after failing to get my weekend shifts swapped but, as a student paying extortionately high rent, I couldn’t afford to take time off work or risk losing my job.
My point is if I had more money, I’d be down in Bristol today supporting 17-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg as she joins a large number of people who have been inspired to take to the streets and take their futures into their own hands.
Greta’s impact, as well as that of Extinction Rebellion, has been massive in creating a culture of peaceful protests and striking around the globe. With a collective aim of pressuring the government through civil disobedience, we’re seeing people from all walks of life getting up and actually doing something for their own futures, the futures of their grandkids and the future of the world as we know it.
However, while striking and protesting are massively important in making any kind of change, it’s becoming clear that there is a significant amount of inaccessibility in terms of joining the fight.
XR came under fire during the International Rebellion of October 2019 when two activists climbed on top of a tube carriage in Canning Town, before being dragged off by angry commuters. This unfortunate blunder shone a light on the movement’s class problem, with the Telegraph stating, “After all, who suffers most when they stage these protests? It is not the government, or the capitalist giants… but those on low wages.”
Such tactics clearly work. Last year’s April Rebellion was successful in putting the climate emergency at the top of the UK’s agenda, and pushing the government to legislate for net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. In her upcoming book, The Future We Choose: Surviving the Climate Crisis, Christiana Figueres, the former UN Climate Chief, urges the public towards civil disobedience writing, “It’s time to participate in non-violent political movements wherever possible.”
The operative phrase here being, “wherever possible”.
People are often told (usually by critics of climate activism, obviously) that if they cared about the planet so much, then they’d make sacrifices in order to save it. While that’s all well and good, the fact is that not everyone can afford to miss days of work, or risk being unfairly dismissed because they want to tackle an issue we should have tackled years ago. Make no mistake, the climate emergency is one of the most pressing issues in the world right now, and it will be for many years to come, but for some – especially those with families – looking past the immediate concerns of paying rent and putting food on the table just isn’t possible.
When you can’t attend a protest, it’s not uncommon to feel powerless and even hopeless in the face of the disastrous consequences of inaction. It seems easy enough to focus on your own action and make greener choices in your buying habits and daily life, but it’s harder in practice. Sustainable brands which sell necessities like clothing, toiletries and menstrual products certainly know how to sell climate justice, and maybe if they were even slightly affordable, they would entice more customers like me.
When only the middle and upper classes (half of whom couldn’t care less about the effects of climate change on those who won’t be able to afford to escape it) are able to really afford to make an impact, it leaves a hole in the movement.
We need to act now: there are a huge number of unutilised activists whose voices need to be heard. Climate activism must be made accessible to all – potentially through legislation around striking and unsustainable goods and materials – in order for us to feel its true benefits.
I wanted to join the protests last year and be in Bristol this week but I can't take time off work or risk losing my job
Last year, I wasn’t able to go down to London to join the International Rebellion or even the Northern Rebellion in Manchester, where I live. I contemplated pulling a sicky after failing to get my weekend shifts swapped but, as a student paying extortionately high rent, I couldn’t afford to take time off work or risk losing my job.
My point is if I had more money, I’d be down in Bristol today supporting 17-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg as she joins a large number of people who have been inspired to take to the streets and take their futures into their own hands.
Greta’s impact, as well as that of Extinction Rebellion, has been massive in creating a culture of peaceful protests and striking around the globe. With a collective aim of pressuring the government through civil disobedience, we’re seeing people from all walks of life getting up and actually doing something for their own futures, the futures of their grandkids and the future of the world as we know it.
However, while striking and protesting are massively important in making any kind of change, it’s becoming clear that there is a significant amount of inaccessibility in terms of joining the fight.
XR came under fire during the International Rebellion of October 2019 when two activists climbed on top of a tube carriage in Canning Town, before being dragged off by angry commuters. This unfortunate blunder shone a light on the movement’s class problem, with the Telegraph stating, “After all, who suffers most when they stage these protests? It is not the government, or the capitalist giants… but those on low wages.”
Such tactics clearly work. Last year’s April Rebellion was successful in putting the climate emergency at the top of the UK’s agenda, and pushing the government to legislate for net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. In her upcoming book, The Future We Choose: Surviving the Climate Crisis, Christiana Figueres, the former UN Climate Chief, urges the public towards civil disobedience writing, “It’s time to participate in non-violent political movements wherever possible.”
The operative phrase here being, “wherever possible”.
People are often told (usually by critics of climate activism, obviously) that if they cared about the planet so much, then they’d make sacrifices in order to save it. While that’s all well and good, the fact is that not everyone can afford to miss days of work, or risk being unfairly dismissed because they want to tackle an issue we should have tackled years ago. Make no mistake, the climate emergency is one of the most pressing issues in the world right now, and it will be for many years to come, but for some – especially those with families – looking past the immediate concerns of paying rent and putting food on the table just isn’t possible.
When you can’t attend a protest, it’s not uncommon to feel powerless and even hopeless in the face of the disastrous consequences of inaction. It seems easy enough to focus on your own action and make greener choices in your buying habits and daily life, but it’s harder in practice. Sustainable brands which sell necessities like clothing, toiletries and menstrual products certainly know how to sell climate justice, and maybe if they were even slightly affordable, they would entice more customers like me.
When only the middle and upper classes (half of whom couldn’t care less about the effects of climate change on those who won’t be able to afford to escape it) are able to really afford to make an impact, it leaves a hole in the movement.
We need to act now: there are a huge number of unutilised activists whose voices need to be heard. Climate activism must be made accessible to all – potentially through legislation around striking and unsustainable goods and materials – in order for us to feel its true benefits.
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