Greta's Great Courage

I’m bowled over by this young woman’s bravery and initiative in challenging climate change. She is incredibly inspiring to me and my daughter. Born in Sweden in 2003, Greta Thunberg realised, at the tender age of 8 years old, the extent of the destruction taking place world-wide and how little people were doing in response. She became depressed. She stopped talking and eating. She lost 10kg in two months. Greta was also diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome. In an interview in Germany she said without Asperger’s none of her activism would have been possible: "I would simply have continued to live and think like everyone else”. 

By the age of 15, Greta came to global media awareness through declining to attend school and instead began standing outside Swedish parliament buildings with her sign Skolstrejk för klimatet (School Strike for the Climate). Now at week 76, Fridays For Future has evolved into a global movement of approximately 7 million people. This month, Greta initiated trademarks for her name, Fridays for Future and Skolstriek for Klimatet as all have been used to peddle products and collect money without her consent. In response, she’s set up a foundation to promote mental health, ecological, climatic and social sustainability. Greta is calling for an immediate end to the use of all fossil fuels by governments, companies, banks and institutions. She speaks with an honesty and directness that is based in analytical truth and scientific research. Yet, leaders around the world have ridiculed, publicly insulted and undermined her. Her father says she deals with criticism very well, for the most part laughing at it, although he does worry about the ‘hate’ generated through social media. Greta travels by sea and land as flying is so detrimental to the environment, staying true to her own ethics. She was Time magazine’s Person of the Year last year and nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

In a Skype session she acknowledges Sir David Attenborough for inspiring her activism. He, in turn, recognises her amazing ability to spread environmental awareness and states that she has “woken up the world”. This sensitive young woman has overcome adversity to birth a tidal wave of awareness which is awe-inspiring. She illuminates how listening to children, respecting their rights and supporting the young people they grow into is a giant leap for humankind. 

Image by Wikipedia