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‘Greta’: A young activist’s moment, praised and criticised

Published:Wednesday | September 25, 2019 | 12:00 AM
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The Associated Press
Environmental activist Greta Thunberg (centre) of Sweden, walks with an entourage after passing a security checkpoint while appearing at the United Nations, Monday, September 23, 2019 in New York.
The Associated Press
Environmental activist Greta Thunberg, of Sweden, addresses the Climate Action Summit in the United Nations General Assembly, at U.N. headquarters, Monday, Sept. 23, 2019. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow)
The Associated Press
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, far left, and young environmental activists look on as Greta Thunberg, of Sweden, far right, addresses the Climate Action Summit in the United Nations General Assembly, at U.N. headquarters, Monday, Sept. 23, 2019. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow)
The Associated Press
Greta Thunberg, left, is joined by other child petitioners to announce a complaint they will file before the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child to protest lack of government action on the climate crisis, Monday, Sept. 23, 2019 in New York. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
The Associated Press
Environmental activist Greta Thunberg, of Sweden, addresses the Climate Action Summit in the United Nations General Assembly, at U.N. headquarters, Monday, Sept. 23, 2019. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow)
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UNITED NATIONS (AP):

She stepped on to the biggest of global stages to face the most diverse of audiences, and she made it count. “How dare you?” she kept saying to some of the world’s most powerful people. “You are failing us,” she told them.

Sometimes, a moment and a person align. For 16-year-old Greta Thunberg – whether you admire her or dislike her, and there are plenty of passionate partisans in both camps – Monday was that time.

Climate change is a diffuse topic. And in a society trained to consume narratives by movies and TV shows that feature sharp storylines and powerful protagonists and antagonists, it can be difficult to focus on something so vast and all-encompassing.

Thunberg is changing that, and Monday was the pinnacle of her efforts thus far. She navigated the United Nations like a diplomatic pro, her size and age the only indications that she hasn’t been around for years.

A Swedish high school student who started by protesting outside her nation’s parliament, Thunberg has spent recent months in an accelerating bid to cast attention on global warming and its effects on the rising generation.

She made the most of her time in the spotlight of global politics on Monday. Her approach and words enchanted many and disgusted others.

In the latter camp, it seems, may be President Donald Trump, who appeared to jab at her late Monday after her UN climate conference appearance.

doom and gloom utterances

At 8:36 p.m., after Thunberg’s utterances of doom and gloom reverberated across the warming planet, he produced this tweet: “She seems like a very happy young girl looking forward to a bright and wonderful future. So nice to see!”

Thunberg’s supporters say a voice like hers is pivotal to command attention, and that her cause is both selfless and her own. Detractors have said she is being used by climate-change activists and is swimming in waters out of her depth.

“Kids are powerful pawns,” Rich Lowry wrote in the conservative National Review on Tuesday. “There’s a reason that we don’t look to teenagers for guidance on fraught issues of public policy.”

Young people around Thunberg have tended to focus on emotional appeals in recent months, saying older generations’ refusal to address climate change properly is stealing their futures.