Why We Should Stop Criticizing Greta Thunberg

and Start Listening to Her Message

Submission for the One Earth Award:

 The issue of climate change became important to me when I was first exposed to a young climate-change activist from Sweden – Greta Thunberg. The first time I heard her voice was in 2019 when she delivered her famous critical speech at the United Nation conference. Soon after, when she featured as Time Magazine’s Person of the Year in 2019, I was witnessing firsthand the impact youth activists can have. People who support Thunberg’s work greatly appreciate her courage to hold world leader’s accountable, while people who doubt Thunberg’s contribution argue that her motives are self-driven. As a young person myself, I aim to support Greta Thunberg. Of course, as with any politically-charged issue in our society, dissenting voices often criticize Thunberg in ways that I believe are detrimental to the whole purpose of her message. These contradictions inspired me to research Thunberg and critically assess the impact she actually has, and will continue to have, on climate change mitigation. Thunberg’s example has convinced me that our global youth have the power to shape the world for our future based on their self-awareness and active mobilization. There is no doubt that climate change is happing around us. Because of the fierce suspicion from naysayers, I am passionate to contribute this piece of critical, analytical writing to the debate. I hold the idea that if we choose not to listen to Thunberg’s voice, as well as all the youth of today who are set to inherit an already sick planet, there will be nothing left for us to argue. I hope that my ideas here can inspire more readers to embrace young activists and to consider their messages with an open arm rather than criticism.

Introduction

 In 2018, a protest in front of the Swedish Parliament building saw one fifteen-year-old girl holding a sign that read: “skolstrejk för klimatet” (Felsenthal). This simple phrase loosely translates into English as: “School strike for climate.” Before that day, her name was unknown across the world, but not long after, her simple statement would establish a strong foundation for Greta Thunberg’s future claims on climate change mitigation. Now she is a household name for climate activism. Though her first action for this cause may have seemed terribly understated, it would be the spark that would eventually inspire millions of thoughtful young people to join her. However, Greta’s bold actions to confront the issue of climate change have also encountered numerous oppositions. This paper will closely analyze polarized viewpoints about Greta Thunberg first, moving from her allies to her critics. We will examine whether Thunberg is, as the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says, a role model who has inspired “a change in momentum” (“Greta Thunberg Kicks Off UN Youth Climate Summit”), or as President of Russia Vladimir Putin would have us believe, an exploited teenager who observes the world in an oversimplified way (Snuggs). Our society truly needs activists like Thunberg whose bipartisan activism seeks to benefit both sides of the political spectrum. Thunberg’s ideology utilizes scientific cognition to bridge the gap between political rhetoric and public consciousness and action. Her powerful words, her strong example, and her continued resolve to focus on preserving our planet represent the voice of her generation and those to come. It is, after all, her generation that will inherit the earth, one that may no longer be inhabitable for them if we don’t heed their warnings.

Thunberg’s Activism

 The importance of Greta Thunberg’s voice is revealed by other globally influential youth advocating for social equity and justice who have publicly supported her work. Malala Yousafzai, for instance, a famous youth activist from Pakistan who gained global support for her perseverance and advocacy for women’s education and equality, supports and promotes Thunberg’s tactics. She suggests that Thunberg’s activism should lead to the integration of her tenets rather than a criticism of them. By calling Thunberg a “friend” whom she’d “skip school for,” we can see an incredible power that Thunberg has (@Malala). Yousafzai has fought for years for young women to be allowed access to education, herself included. To consider the idea of her skipping school is even more significant. If Yousafzai would do it for Thunberg, then surely others would. And this is what Thunberg’s activism does – it inspires solidarity and support from her peers followed by true action.

 Soon after Thunberg’s first school strike, the term: “Greta Thunberg Effect” was coined, a phrase that symbolizes how her advocacy has begun to evolve globally (Sabherwal et al). In 2018, Thunberg, along with other “school strikers” from around the world, founded Friday For Future – an organized and voluntary framework promoting “a global climate strike movement” (“WHO WE ARE”). The primary goal of this movement is to put “moral pressure” on politicians worldwide, requesting them to “listen to the scientists” and implement immediate actions to combat climate change (“WHO WE ARE”). It is in this way that she has inspired a movement rather than just a momentary media frenzy. According to the Map of Actions from the Friday For Future official site, school strikers in five continents around the world have been involved in the movement and have continuously organized new protest events every few months. This “unprecedented mobilization around the world” demonstrates both the effect of Thunberg’s action and the “massive power” youths can generate to make our world a better place (“Youth in Action”). This is imperative in a world where the voices of older climate change activists are no longer as loud as they used to be.

Thunberg’s Voice

 Thunberg’s voice represents an exciting new opportunity to take up the torch from advocates who established this important fight many years ago. Sir David Attenborough, best known for his work to combat climate change through BBC television programs like Blue Planet and Planet Earth, once argued that Thunberg’s voice is the one we should listen to. He argues that she has been successful doing what “many of us [older climate advocates] … for 20 odd years have failed to achieve” (Ma). Thunberg’s prominence in this debate has changed the status quo. For Attenborough, it is beyond dispute that “people are listening” to Thunberg’s message. By listening closely, we can hear the techniques she uses that enable her to achieve this effectively (“‘People Are Listening’…” 01:22 – 01:23).

 Greta Thunberg represents a return to a more traditional style of public speaking that truly reflects the power of rhetoric when applied to positive change rather than political power and maneuver. In numerous speeches addressing world leaders, Thunberg applies the Ancient Greek oratory technique of pathos to inspire people through an emotional appeal, especially fear. During the R20 Austrian World Summit in 2019, for instance, Thunberg addressed her concerns that “people in general have no clue” about the severe effects of this climate crisis (Stubbs). As a member of the future generation, Thunberg clearly views herself as having a responsibility to reveal the urgency to the public, to warn them that “our time is running out” (Stubbs). She also expresses anxiety and fear for her generation; the despairing voice of hers represents what the United Nations refers to as, the real “victims of climate change” (“Youth in Action”). When highlighting the consequences of climate change ignorance, Thunberg metaphorically refers to the climate disaster as a fierce fire in our house that threatens our lives if we choose “to dodge” away (Ma). It is in this way that she uses emotional appeals so powerfully – bringing it from an issue that we can’t see to an issue that we will encounter in our own homes. According to Sejung Park, an assistant professor at John Carroll University who conducted a study on the effect of celebrities’ message on climate change, “the effectiveness of fear” is found to be helpful to increase public’s risk awareness and stimulate the perception of climate change. Thunberg’s use of pathos to reflect desperation from fear successfully moves “the climate crisis” from far “behind the curtain to center stage” (Felsenthal). The world needs Thunberg who inspires youth to fight for a future that is on the brink, adults to recognize their responsibility in protecting their children, and powerful political officials to question their indifference in the climate crisis. Through her advocacy, expressed expertly with her more traditional oratory skills, we simultaneously realize that some of our high-level government officials are driven by ego rather than the needs of the people they govern.

Criticisms Directed at Thunberg

 Even though Time Magazine, a credible publication that has been in circulation for many years, awarded Thunberg the title Person of the Year in 2019, one major group of people still rejects the idea that our world needs Thunberg, including powerful American Republican leaders whose political platform contradicts her message. Donald J. Trump, the former President of the United States, for instance, continually criticized the recognition Thunberg received, discrediting it publicly. His voice represents that of the Republican party, which suspects climate change is merely a phantasm or a liberal agenda that needs to be opposed. The right-wing conservative ideology fuels this criticism that climate change is “highly speculative” (Manzi and Wehner). In other words, Republicans seem to oppose climate change because of where the issue sits on the political spectrum – firmly within the lap of liberal ideology. The divide between conservatives and liberals is so wide now that the Republicans’ rejection of this particular issue is not about whether climate change exists, but instead simply about opposing their Democratic rivals in principle.

 As a Republican, former President Trump amplified conservative ideology to the highest level, and perhaps this is the reason he displayed harsh opposition towards Thunberg. In his presidential term from 2016 to 2020, Trump removed the United States from the Paris Agreement – aimed to achieve world-scale decarbonization – previously signed by former President Barack Obama. His goals in doing so were suspected to benefit his economic and political greed to give the green light for fossil fuel companies. Furthermore, Trump also repealed various “climate-related regulations, including rules on air pollution, emissions, drilling and oil and gas extraction” that were previously planned by Democrats (Schiermeier). As a conservative and as a strong believer in the fossil fuel industry, Trump revealed his selfishness to achieve political interests and his disregard of scientific facts. Alongside Trump’s fierce Twitter post criticizing Thunberg’s achievements, Steve Milloy, a climate change denier and staunch Trump supporter, also posted a mocking comment to question whether Thunberg needs “psychological intervention” (Roberts). Furthermore, Michael Knowles, a conservative podcaster, intensified the commentary by viciously calling Thunberg “a mentally ill Swedish Child” on a Live Fox News report (Roberts). Knowles, an undoubtable denier who suspects climate change advocates are driven by political rivalry, will criticize Thunberg equally pungently. Although criticism towards her is fierce, or in some ways, toxic, critical comments again reveal the effect of Thunberg’s powerful words because she can capture the attention of important public figures. Their critiques also disclose the fact that there is an obvious barrier between shared and contradictory ideology when it sets foot in a political spectrum. Thus, we need Thunberg’s impassioned voice to remind us that “science is crystal clear” about climate change and that we can’t spend this “precious time” simply “arguing about what and who needs to change first” (Stubbs) while the state of the environment continues to worsen. Thunberg reminds us that we need to focus on the solutions to the problem, or pretty soon, there will be nothing left to fix.

Conspiracy Theories About Thunberg

 Another critique that discredits Thunberg’s efforts comes from those people who do not accept the idea that Thunberg has a distinctive, unique voice of her own. Claiming that he doesn’t “share exultation about Thunberg” during an energy forum, Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia, explains that “it is deplorable” how certain interest groups abuse Thunberg’s advocacy for their own purposes (Snuggs). Putin censoriously accuses Thunberg of being the mouthpiece for voices whose intentions are not her own. For this reason, Greta’s critics do not endorse the idea that young people have enough life experience to hold an opinion of their own and be taken seriously by others. Putin dismisses Greta due to her obvious young age, yet she has achieved such a wide influence around the world in just a short period. In fact, Thunberg is more than what these critics are accusing her of being, and these unwarranted arguments about this conspiracy have been countered. According to Emma Marris, an American author whose research focuses on environmentalism, claims that teen activists do not “represent someone else’s agenda” (Marris). Marris claims, and we agree, that the message delivered by youth comes from them, filtered through an unwavering need for truth and transparency (Marris), and they simply are not puppets for politicians. Thunberg genuinely argues that people need to understand “our political leaders have failed us” (“Greta Thunberg Speech…”). It is therefore not surprising that these politicians would clutch at straws to criticize her for focusing the blame directly onto them. Thunberg declares that rumors about her being used for someone else’s interests are spurious, and she is “absolutely independent” and “only represent[s]” herself (Stubbs). “I guess” these adults, Thunberg claims in her Twitter post, “who spend their time mocking and threatening teenagers… must simply feel so threatened by us” (@GretaThunberg). With this in mind, we ask those naysayers: how can Thunberg be spouting the political agenda of our leaders when she is criticizing them so poignantly? In addition, we ask ourselves, don’t we need Thunberg and her admonishment to help us recognize the weaknesses of our current system? Without checks and balances in place - especially the voices of the people themselves – we risk duplicating a fascist dictatorship across the world.

Conclusion

 In just three short years since her first speech in 2018, Greta Thunberg has become the responsible voice of a generation seeking to rescue our future from a catastrophic climate crisis. She is intrepid when criticizing the nonchalance of politicians, and she is heartfelt in awakening a complacent public. “…In a short period of time,” Thunberg has successfully inspired public awareness by mobilizing numerous strikes around the world; she has also challenged the political authority by delivering critical speeches in a global platform (Sabherwal et al). Even though her methods have been constantly debated between opposite ideologies and across different age groups, Greta Thunberg’s successes far outreach her failures. It is due to young climate activists like her that people increase their responsiveness and actions to combat the climate crisis, and it is also due to her that a worldwide movement has begun to take proper root. Hence, and definitively, we need more activists like Greta Thunberg to save ourselves from the destruction we have created. We must do all we can to support and promote their courageous, world-changing voices before the consequences of climate change silences them (and us) forever.

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