Greta Thunberg Accuses Politicians: “Trust Abused” Liz Truss Or Why Karl Marx Was Right

The world is in a state of emergency: “The climate and environmental crisis is the greatest threat humanity has ever faced.”

With this sentence, Fridays for Future activist Greta Thunberg opens her guest article in the online magazine “The New Statesman”. 20 of the 21 warmest years since the weather records started in 1850 have been recorded in this century. The number of floods worldwide has increased fivefold since 1950 and the number of forest fires sevenfold.

It is believed, Greta writes, that up to five million people would die annually as a result of the unusually high or cold temperatures. “Nature is being devastated: We are experiencing rapid extinction of species and destruction of entire ecosystems.”

And that applies not only to the generations that come after us – but also to us.

If emissions remain the same, we will achieve the target of 1.5 degrees this decade

In the IPCC report, researchers warned that current emissions would break the 1.5 degree barrier within this decade. And that, Greta emphasizes, is the point at which the risk of an irreversible climate catastrophe with serious consequences increases significantly.

And yet: “The world’s leading politicians deny the existential threat, actively delay change and distract the electorate,” criticizes Greta. “Instead of working together to fight the crisis, the global community is fragmenting as wars are waged and great powers are vying for control of scarce resources and territories.”

As the initiator of the industrial revolution and brutal colonizer, Britain bears a special responsibility, according to Greta, to assume a moral political leadership role in the climate crisis. But that doesn’t happen, quite the contrary. Prime Minister Liz Truss, who stepped down this Thursday, is said to have called for “growth, growth, growth” instead. “But what does that mean if the economy plays it out against people, nature and climate?” Greta wonders.

The climate crisis and the energy crisis are played off against each other

Even before outgoing Prime Minister Liz Truss took office, legal obligations to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 were “worryingly inadequate, but the current government appears to have thrown them overboard altogether,” Greta writes as Truss had not yet resigned. .

Like many other countries, Britain justifies its political decisions in the face of Russia’s “criminal invasion” of Ukraine with national security. “But nothing is certain in a world ravaged by increasing heat, fire and flooding,” Greta emphasizes. Rather, the war in Ukraine shows that reliance on fossil fuels not only helps maintain authoritarian regimes, but also finances expansive efforts from Moscow to the Gulf.

Greta added:

And despite the impact of the climate crisis, global greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise. Oil production is increasing rapidly, the energy companies would continue to make “sky high profit”, while countless people could no longer pay their bills.

“The necessary changes to prevent the worst consequences are not in sight,” Greta writes. Even today, with a warming of “just” 1.2 degrees, people would be displaced and lose their lives and livelihoods. However, if we cross the 1.5 degree mark, as recent studies show, we risk crossing irreversible tipping points “that will lead to human suffering on an unimaginable scale”.

The poorest are most at risk from the effects of the climate crisis

According to a recent report in the journal Nature Sustainability, the richest 10% of the world’s population was responsible for 48% of all emissions in 2019. Meanwhile, the bottom 50 percent are only responsible for 12 percent of emissions.

That’s not fair.

However, as Greta writes, the industrialized countries are not even able to deliver the $100 billion that they promised poorer countries annually from 2020 to support adaptation measures due to the climate crisis.

Greta is very disappointed and says:

But even if Greta sometimes feels like a “broken record” (Editor’s Note: A Broken Record), repeating the same thing over and over, we shouldn’t despair. “The way we look at and talk about the climate and environmental crisis has changed.” A critical mass of young people in particular are demanding change that will no longer tolerate the hesitation, denial and complacency of the politicians who have put us in this exceptional situation. “I believe in democracy and in the power of collective wisdom,” Greta says.

It’s not too late. And we all have a duty to help as many people as possible understand the catastrophic situation. “We all need to do more to explain, inform and educate. Public pressure can bring about profound changes.”