Last Updated: Jan. 19, 2023
Rachel Koning Beals
Thunberg is joined by fellow young activists Vanessa Nakate, Helena Gualinga and Luisa Neubauer in a roundtable with IEA Director Fatih Birol at the World Economic Forum.
Rachel Koning Beals
Thunberg is joined by fellow young activists Vanessa Nakate, Helena Gualinga and Luisa Neubauer in a roundtable with IEA Director Fatih Birol at the World Economic Forum.
Climate activist Greta Thunberg of Sweden listens as Vanessa Nakate of Uganda speaks at a press conference at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. The activists urged attendees to give less power in the climate-change fight to oil companies. AP
Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg, age 20 and arguably the face of a generation that wants to roll back decades of reliance on oil and gas by means of alternative energy sources, had a message Thursday as she mingled with the corporate and political bigwigs meeting in Davos, Switzerland: Stop listening to the companies responsible for “fueling the destruction of the planet.”
Backing these interests only gives more power to those who are culpable in the climate crisis, by investing in fossil fuels and prioritizing short-term profits over people and broader economic growth, she said.
Thunberg was joined by prominent young activists Vanessa Nakate, Helena Gualinga and Luisa Neubauer in a roundtable with International Energy Agency Executive Director Fatih Birol at the World Economic Forum.
Stop listening to the companies responsible for ‘fueling the destruction of the planet.’— Greta Thunberg
Thunberg spoke first, saying it is “absurd” that in Davos, so many are turning to the people who are mainly causing the climate crisis to fix it, rather than to those on the front lines who are suffering from the drought, heat and more frequent extreme weather that costs livelihoods as well as lives.
We seem to rely on these people to resolve our problems, Thunberg says, even though they have shown they are prioritizing short-term “greed.”
Read: U.S. corporate greed has gone too far, says Norway fund manager who voted against Apple CEO’s pay
Thunberg urged Birol to stop the global energy industry and the banks that support it from financing new carbon-intensive investments such as those in coal, oil and gas. In 2021, the IEA under Birol did take a tougher stance on emissions and exploration for new fossil-fuel CL00, +0.06% sources, a position that surprised the industry.
Earlier this month, the United Arab Emirates announced its decision to appoint the CEO of a state-run oil company to preside over 2023 U.N. climate negotiations in Dubai. It was a move that U.S. climate envoy John Kerry said he backs, citing Sultan al-Jaber’s work on renewable energy projects.
Kerry, the former U.S. secretary of state, told the Associated Press that the Emirates and other countries that rely on fossil fuels to fund their governments will need to find “some balance” ahead.
However, he dismissed the idea that because Sultan al-Jaber heads the Abu Dhabi National Oil Co., his appointment should be automatically disqualified. Activists, however, equated the appointment to asking “arms dealers to lead peace talks.”
Others have said the infrastructure already in place from Big Oil, and the capital it has to invest in carbon capture and other technologies, can deliver the scale a climate-change fix requires.
Thunberg and many of her generation aren’t convinced.
“As long as they can get away with it, they will continue to invest in fossil fuels, they will continue to throw people under the bus,” Thunberg warned Thursday.
Instead, she said, climate policy makers should listen more closely to those who are actually affected by the climate crisis, particularly people living in the Southern Hemisphere and in developing nations — places that tend to be exploited for the resources that run modern society and bear the brunt of its pollution.
Don’t miss: Read Greta Thunberg’s killer comeback to former kickboxer Andrew Tate’s tweet about his ‘enormous emissions’
Earlier this week, police in western Germany carried Thunberg and other protesters away from the edge of an open-pit coal mine, where they had been demonstrating against the ongoing demolition of a village to make way for the mine’s expansion, German news agency dpa reported.
Thunberg was among hundreds of people who resumed antimining protests at multiple locations in the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The German government reached a deal with energy company RWE RWE, +1.81% last year allowing it to demolish the village in return for ending coal use by 2030 rather than 2038, as had originally been planned.
Both the government and RWE argue the coal is needed to ensure Germany’s energy security, which is being affected by the cut in supply of Russian gas NG00, -0.26% due to the war in Ukraine.
More: BlackRock’s Fink says climate and ESG-investing attacks getting ugly, personal
At Davos, Thunberg visit spotlights lack of climate action
DAVID KEYTON and MASHA MACPHERSON
Thu, January 19, 2023
DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) — Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg on Thursday slammed corporate bigwigs meeting in Davos, Switzerland, for “fueling the destruction of the planet” by investing in fossil fuels and prioritizing short-term profits over people affected by the climate crisis.
Thunberg was joined by prominent young activists Vanessa Nakate of Uganda, Helena Gualinga of Ecuador and Luisa Neubauer of Germany in a roundtable with International Energy Agency Executive Director Fatih Birol at the World Economic Forum’s annual gathering.
Nakate, who at one point choked up, said “leaders are playing games” with people's futures.
People in parts of the world most affected by climate change are "clinging to their lives and just trying to make it for another day, to make it for another week, to make it for another hour, another minute,” she said.
Gualinga said the world is “taking a really dangerous path.”
The activists brought a “cease and desist” letter calling on the heads of fossil fuel companies to stop all new oil and natural gas projects, signed by nearly 900,000 people. Scientists say no new fossil fuel projects can be built if the world is to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) in line with climate goals set in Paris in 2015.
Nakate added that current levels of warming, which have reached up to 1.2 degrees Celsius (2.2 F), means it is “already a living hell for many communities across the African continent, across the Global South” who are facing extreme drought, heat and flooding.
Activists have been increasingly critical of the lack of action taken by governments and large corporations in recent years.
Birol, meanwhile, said he had “legitimate optimism” that the world would move away from fossil fuels and toward clean energy. He noted that the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act ’s nearly $375 billion in climate incentives would be transformative for renewables in the country.
But he added that “the problem is not being fast enough to reach our climate targets.”
International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, when asked for one thing she would change to accelerate the net zero transition, said she would lock the U.S., China, India and E.U. in a room and lock the door.
“Let them out after they sign in blood a commitment to work together to save the planet,” she said to applause from the audience at a Davos discussion on green finance.
Climate and sustainability have increasingly been major themes of the elite conclave in Davos, though it has faced criticism for being a talking shop that results in little direct action. This year, several sessions focused on the transition from fossil fuels to clean energy alongside panels on the slowing global economy, food insecurity and tech innovation.
The event kicked off with dozens of climate activists — some with clown makeup — braved snowfall on Sunday to wave banners and chant slogans at the end of the Davos Promenade.
“The changes that we need are not very likely to come from the inside (of the Davos meeting), rather I believe they will come from the bottom up,” Thunberg said. “Without massive public pressure from the outside, at least in my experience, these people are going to go as far as they possibly can. As long as they can get away with it, they will continue to invest in fossil fuels, they will continue to throw people under bus for their own gain.”
Thunberg did not attend the latest U.N. climate conference, or COP, in Egypt last year, but Nakate, Neubauer and Gualinga took part in protests and sessions at the event.
“It should be those on the frontlines and not privileged people like me” speaking to leaders at high-level meetings, Thunberg said.
The conference came under criticism in recent days for installing the chief of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. as its president for this year's event.
“It just sends this message of actually not taking it seriously," Gualinga said.
But U.S. climate envoy John Kerry told The Associated Press that he backs the decision, citing Sultan al-Jaber's work on renewable energy projects.
“I think that Dr. Sultan al-Jaber is a terrific choice because he is the head of the company. That company knows it needs to transition,” Kerry said Sunday after attending an energy conference in Dubai. “He knows — and the leadership of the UAE is committed to transitioning.”
Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, who’s leading an initiative to trace greenhouse gas emissions, said Thursday at Davos that fossil fuel companies were pumping three times the amount of planet-warming gases in the air than they were reporting.
“Most (other industries) are not this far off,” he said.
Thunberg arrived in Davos from Germany where she participated in a demonstration in a town being cleared for the expansion of a coal mine. Her boots were still covered in mud from the protest. She and several other high-profile activists were removed by police from the town on Tuesday.
“The level of action and frustration and anger that is there and one might even say desperation for me is a signal of what we need not only in Germany but around the world,” German climate envoy Jennifer Morgan told AP on Wednesday.
Morgan said that Davos attendees “are major decision-makers that if they were to really understand the 1.5 degree goal and take the action that’s required, it would make a massive difference."
But she acknowledged that while they have a role, “they're not the answer.”
___
AP journalists Kelvin Chan and Dana Beltaji in London and Jamey Keaten and Markus Schreiber in Davos contributed.
Thu, January 19, 2023
DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) — Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg on Thursday slammed corporate bigwigs meeting in Davos, Switzerland, for “fueling the destruction of the planet” by investing in fossil fuels and prioritizing short-term profits over people affected by the climate crisis.
Thunberg was joined by prominent young activists Vanessa Nakate of Uganda, Helena Gualinga of Ecuador and Luisa Neubauer of Germany in a roundtable with International Energy Agency Executive Director Fatih Birol at the World Economic Forum’s annual gathering.
Nakate, who at one point choked up, said “leaders are playing games” with people's futures.
People in parts of the world most affected by climate change are "clinging to their lives and just trying to make it for another day, to make it for another week, to make it for another hour, another minute,” she said.
Gualinga said the world is “taking a really dangerous path.”
The activists brought a “cease and desist” letter calling on the heads of fossil fuel companies to stop all new oil and natural gas projects, signed by nearly 900,000 people. Scientists say no new fossil fuel projects can be built if the world is to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) in line with climate goals set in Paris in 2015.
Nakate added that current levels of warming, which have reached up to 1.2 degrees Celsius (2.2 F), means it is “already a living hell for many communities across the African continent, across the Global South” who are facing extreme drought, heat and flooding.
Activists have been increasingly critical of the lack of action taken by governments and large corporations in recent years.
Birol, meanwhile, said he had “legitimate optimism” that the world would move away from fossil fuels and toward clean energy. He noted that the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act ’s nearly $375 billion in climate incentives would be transformative for renewables in the country.
But he added that “the problem is not being fast enough to reach our climate targets.”
International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, when asked for one thing she would change to accelerate the net zero transition, said she would lock the U.S., China, India and E.U. in a room and lock the door.
“Let them out after they sign in blood a commitment to work together to save the planet,” she said to applause from the audience at a Davos discussion on green finance.
Climate and sustainability have increasingly been major themes of the elite conclave in Davos, though it has faced criticism for being a talking shop that results in little direct action. This year, several sessions focused on the transition from fossil fuels to clean energy alongside panels on the slowing global economy, food insecurity and tech innovation.
The event kicked off with dozens of climate activists — some with clown makeup — braved snowfall on Sunday to wave banners and chant slogans at the end of the Davos Promenade.
“The changes that we need are not very likely to come from the inside (of the Davos meeting), rather I believe they will come from the bottom up,” Thunberg said. “Without massive public pressure from the outside, at least in my experience, these people are going to go as far as they possibly can. As long as they can get away with it, they will continue to invest in fossil fuels, they will continue to throw people under bus for their own gain.”
Thunberg did not attend the latest U.N. climate conference, or COP, in Egypt last year, but Nakate, Neubauer and Gualinga took part in protests and sessions at the event.
“It should be those on the frontlines and not privileged people like me” speaking to leaders at high-level meetings, Thunberg said.
The conference came under criticism in recent days for installing the chief of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. as its president for this year's event.
“It just sends this message of actually not taking it seriously," Gualinga said.
But U.S. climate envoy John Kerry told The Associated Press that he backs the decision, citing Sultan al-Jaber's work on renewable energy projects.
“I think that Dr. Sultan al-Jaber is a terrific choice because he is the head of the company. That company knows it needs to transition,” Kerry said Sunday after attending an energy conference in Dubai. “He knows — and the leadership of the UAE is committed to transitioning.”
Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, who’s leading an initiative to trace greenhouse gas emissions, said Thursday at Davos that fossil fuel companies were pumping three times the amount of planet-warming gases in the air than they were reporting.
“Most (other industries) are not this far off,” he said.
Thunberg arrived in Davos from Germany where she participated in a demonstration in a town being cleared for the expansion of a coal mine. Her boots were still covered in mud from the protest. She and several other high-profile activists were removed by police from the town on Tuesday.
“The level of action and frustration and anger that is there and one might even say desperation for me is a signal of what we need not only in Germany but around the world,” German climate envoy Jennifer Morgan told AP on Wednesday.
Morgan said that Davos attendees “are major decision-makers that if they were to really understand the 1.5 degree goal and take the action that’s required, it would make a massive difference."
But she acknowledged that while they have a role, “they're not the answer.”
___
AP journalists Kelvin Chan and Dana Beltaji in London and Jamey Keaten and Markus Schreiber in Davos contributed.
Greta Thunberg Leads Calls of Disappointment on Climate in Davos
Ayesha Javed
Thu, January 19, 2023
German climate activist of the "Fridays for Future" movement Luisa Neubauer (L), Ecuadorian environmental and human rights activist Helena Gualinga (2nd L), Ugandan climate justice activist Vanessa Nakate (2nd R) and Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg (R) pose with a letter to CEOs of fossil fuel companies during the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos, on January 19, 2023.
Ayesha Javed
Thu, January 19, 2023
German climate activist of the "Fridays for Future" movement Luisa Neubauer (L), Ecuadorian environmental and human rights activist Helena Gualinga (2nd L), Ugandan climate justice activist Vanessa Nakate (2nd R) and Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg (R) pose with a letter to CEOs of fossil fuel companies during the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos, on January 19, 2023.
Credit - Photo by FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP via Getty Images
In 2023, TIME will once again recognize 100 businesses making an extraordinary impact around the world. Applications for the TIME100 Most Influential Companies of 2023 are open, now through March 1, 2023. Apply here.
Welcome to our final daily edition of the Leadership Brief’s Davos diaries, in which we’ll catch you up on the latest from the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting and my colleague Kevin J. Delaney, CEO and editor-in-chief of Charter, shares the view on how a looming recession could impact businesses. We’ll be back on Sunday with more insights on how the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting went this year. In the meantime, you can follow all our WEF-related coverage here, and if you’re in Davos, pick up a copy of TIME’s special issue in the Congress Centre.
For all the conversation around sustainability and the climate crisis, disappointment about the lack of real progress on the ground was palpable as the week drew to a close. Fresh off her detention in Germany, Greta Thunberg was in Davos Thursday to issue an open letter to fossil fuel company CEOs demanding that they immediately halt opening new extraction sites for oil, gas or coal, signed alongside Vanessa Nakate, Helena Gualinga, and Luisa Neubauer. The environmental activists appeared on a panel with the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) Executive Director, Fatih Birol.
Thunberg called out delegates in Davos, who she said were “mostly fueling the destruction of the planet,” and “at the very core of the climate crisis,” such as those who have invested in fossil fuels. “Somehow these are the people that we seem to rely on solving our problems when they have proven time and time again that they are not prioritizing that,” Thunberg told an audience at The Filecoin Sanctuary. “They are prioritizing self-greed, corporate greed and short-term economic profits above people and above planet.” She added that the people on the front lines of the climate crisis are those who we should be listening to, branding the situation “absurd.”
The IEA’s Birol emphasized the need for much more investment in clean energy to combat global warming during Thursday’s panel, highlighting that there is a $2.5 trillion shortfall in funding required to meet climate targets.
Birol told TIME earlier this week that the clean energy transition for developing countries is crucial, and expressed some frustration with the lack of progress in Davos given the heavy corporate presence. He noted that the relative lack of snow here demonstrated just how vital action on climate change is.
Former U.S. Vice President and co-founder and chairman of Generation Investment Management, Al Gore expressed frustration with slow progress on Wednesday, saying, “We are not winning. The crisis is still getting worse faster than we are deploying these solutions.” He also expressed support for Thunberg’s efforts during a protest to prevent the expansion of a coal mine in Germany earlier this week.
At Salesforce’s annual lunch on Thursday, U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry, in conversation with Gore, struck a more optimistic tone about the extent to which climate change had become a priority for leaders, according to one attendee.
In 2023, TIME will once again recognize 100 businesses making an extraordinary impact around the world. Applications for the TIME100 Most Influential Companies of 2023 are open, now through March 1, 2023. Apply here.
Welcome to our final daily edition of the Leadership Brief’s Davos diaries, in which we’ll catch you up on the latest from the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting and my colleague Kevin J. Delaney, CEO and editor-in-chief of Charter, shares the view on how a looming recession could impact businesses. We’ll be back on Sunday with more insights on how the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting went this year. In the meantime, you can follow all our WEF-related coverage here, and if you’re in Davos, pick up a copy of TIME’s special issue in the Congress Centre.
For all the conversation around sustainability and the climate crisis, disappointment about the lack of real progress on the ground was palpable as the week drew to a close. Fresh off her detention in Germany, Greta Thunberg was in Davos Thursday to issue an open letter to fossil fuel company CEOs demanding that they immediately halt opening new extraction sites for oil, gas or coal, signed alongside Vanessa Nakate, Helena Gualinga, and Luisa Neubauer. The environmental activists appeared on a panel with the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) Executive Director, Fatih Birol.
Thunberg called out delegates in Davos, who she said were “mostly fueling the destruction of the planet,” and “at the very core of the climate crisis,” such as those who have invested in fossil fuels. “Somehow these are the people that we seem to rely on solving our problems when they have proven time and time again that they are not prioritizing that,” Thunberg told an audience at The Filecoin Sanctuary. “They are prioritizing self-greed, corporate greed and short-term economic profits above people and above planet.” She added that the people on the front lines of the climate crisis are those who we should be listening to, branding the situation “absurd.”
The IEA’s Birol emphasized the need for much more investment in clean energy to combat global warming during Thursday’s panel, highlighting that there is a $2.5 trillion shortfall in funding required to meet climate targets.
Birol told TIME earlier this week that the clean energy transition for developing countries is crucial, and expressed some frustration with the lack of progress in Davos given the heavy corporate presence. He noted that the relative lack of snow here demonstrated just how vital action on climate change is.
Former U.S. Vice President and co-founder and chairman of Generation Investment Management, Al Gore expressed frustration with slow progress on Wednesday, saying, “We are not winning. The crisis is still getting worse faster than we are deploying these solutions.” He also expressed support for Thunberg’s efforts during a protest to prevent the expansion of a coal mine in Germany earlier this week.
At Salesforce’s annual lunch on Thursday, U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry, in conversation with Gore, struck a more optimistic tone about the extent to which climate change had become a priority for leaders, according to one attendee.
People attend a demostration demanding climate justice and against the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Sunday, Jan. 15, 2023. The annual meeting of the World Economic Forum is taking place in Davos from Jan. 16 until Jan. 20, 2023.
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