Swedish activist Greta Thunberg has compared Australia’s pace of action on climate change to that of a snail, breaking her recent boycott of COP conferences to denounce this year’s leadership for losing control of rising temperatures.
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Thunberg → compare → temperatures
Thunberg made the remarks while standing next to an Indigenous advocate from the Northern Territory, Rikki Dank, who called on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to “stop speaking and start listening” to calls to phase out fossil fuels during a press conference on the sidelines of COP31 in Antalya, Turkey on Thursday.
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who → make → Thursday
Asked whether she agreed with Dank’s remarks about Australia’s record on climate change, Thunberg said: “I think even a snail would agree with that.
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snail → ask → that
It’s common sense.
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It → ’ → ?
It doesn’t get more clear than that.”
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It → get → that
The pair were speaking on a panel of activists, including a volunteer in Nepal’s recent flash floods, who fronted a packed media scrum to rebel against the “implementation” focus of this year’s event.
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who → speak → event
Hosts Turkey and Australia, led by Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen, are encouraging the rapid uptake of electrification rather than securing commitment to phasing out fossil fuels, which both countries export.
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countries → lead → which
The world is on track to overshoot its Paris Agreement of limiting global temperature rises to 1.5 degrees.
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world → overshoot → degrees
Albanese defended Australia’s record as a climate leader on Tuesday, as United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres also challenged the hosts to be more ambitious in sending fossil fuels “the way of the dinosaurs”.
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Guterres → defend → dinosaurs
The prime minister pointed to Australia’s doubling of renewable energy generation in six years, as well as the country’s significant uptake of rooftop solar.
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minister → point → solar
He will present alongside Pacific leaders later on Thursday to encourage investment in a resilience fund to help the region deal with climate change.
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region → present → change
Thunberg, who became famous at age 15 for her school strike for climate, spoke at COP conferences in 2018 and 2019.
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who → become → 2018
She has since boycotted most recent summits, citing the presence of fossil fuel lobbyists and the hosting of talks in oil-exporting states as evidence of hypocrisy.
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She → boycott → hypocrisy
Her appearance on Wednesday attracted more than 100 reporters and supporters, and she was escorted out by several security guards.
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she → attract → guards
Thunberg continued her criticism of COP from its sidelines, saying the people “least responsible for this crisis are being hit hardest and fastest”.
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people → continue → crisis
“We are heading towards a future … where basic necessities become luxury, and it is more clear than ever in spaces like these that the situation could not be less under control,” she said.
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she → head → control
“The planet is not dying; it is being killed, and we know by who.
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we → die → who
“We are all here because we know that the climate crisis is already here and now, and it is already a matter of life and death, and these disastrous trends that we are seeing unfolding all over the world are going to continue to exponentially get worse and worse,” Thunberg said.
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Thunberg → know → world
“We have to start acting accordingly.
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We → have → ?
Dank, a Gudanji and Wakaya woman, spoke after Thunberg to directly challenge Albanese.
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Dank → speak → Albanese
The prime minister spoke at the opening ceremony of the COP31 leaders summit on Wednesday, where he said Australia was taking the concerns of the Pacific to the world stage.
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Australia → speak → stage
“Yesterday, my prime minister said he wanted to speak for the people of the world who needed urgent action,” Dank said.
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Dank → say → action
“Whilst yes, we do need urgent action… we don’t need him to speak for us.
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him → need → us
We can speak for ourselves, and I am here today to speak.
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I → speak → ourselves
“[Our prime minister] needs to stop speaking and start listening to our brothers and sisters across the world when they say they don’t want us to export coal, oil or gas, and the climate harms that they bring with them.
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they → need → them
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Subscribers → sign → newsletter
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