The speech of a 16-year-old Swedish climate activist to world leaders at the UN Climate Action Summit in New York on Monday is going viral.
Video of the speech shows Greta Thunberg arrogantly scolding world leaders for stealing her “dreams” and her “childhood.”
“This is all wrong,” she began. “I shouldn’t be standing here. I should be back in school on the other side of the ocean. Yet you all come to me for hope? How dare you!”
"You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words — and yet, I'm one of the lucky ones," Thunberg continued. "People are suffering. People are dying. Entire ecosystems are collapsing. We are in the beginning of a mass extinction. And all you can talk about is money and fairytales of eternal economic growth.”
“How dare you!” she said, again.
Thunberg concluded her speech by telling the world leaders in attendance that the world’s youth “will never forgive you.”
“You are failing us. But the young people are starting to understand your betrayal,” she said. “The eyes of all future generations are upon you. And if you choose to fail us I say we will never forgive you. We will not let you get away with this. Right here, right now is where we draw the line. The world is waking up. And change is coming, whether you like it or not.”
Soon after the speech, Thunberg and 15 other children filed a human rights complaint with the United Nations against five nations for allegedly violating a 30-year-old treaty in failing "to prevent the deadly and foreseeable consequences" of climate change on children.
CNN reports,
The petition names five countries -- Germany, France, Brazil, Argentina and Turkey -- which they say have failed to uphold their obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, a 30-year-old human rights treaty which is the most widely ratified in history.
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They also call out each of the countries for their ‘inadequate’ pledges to reduce greenhouse gases, saying that the cuts they have agreed to will not keep global temperatures from rising less than 2 degrees Celsius, the goal that was set by the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement. Scientists have warned that global warming of 2 degrees Celsius will result in more frequent and dangerous heat waves, rising sea levels and declining crop yields around the world.
The children also say that their lives have already been impacted by the climate crisis, and that their future livelihoods will be endangered as the impacts worsen.
The U.S. and China were reportedly not listed in the complaint because they have not ratified a portion of the treaty that allows children to seek justice for potential violations.
The children are not seeking compensation but do demand the countries listed make adjustments to address their complaint.
President Trump is also set to deliver a speech at the United Nations Monday afternoon, but his remarks will address religious freedom.
A gif of Thunberg giving Trump the death stare is also making the rounds.