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cefe13 How proud are you of Sweden's young activist? She must be all over the news there.....I listened to her entire presentation, impressive. BRAVO Greta!!!
Edited to add - Mostly I turn OFF the nightly news because the "talking heads" and politicians make my head hurt but when she started speaking it grabbed my attention, how refreshing !!!!
Yes, Greta has certainly gained world-wide attention! What she says is important since the climate threat as such is an important issue that we need to raise awareness of. However, I'm divided when it comes to the methods she (or perhaps people behind her) use.
She started with a one-person school strike, skipping school once a week to protest outside the Swedish parliament building. I'm totally against kids skipping school (and as school is compulsory, many schools in Sweden have forbidden their pupils to join in the school strikes that followed her one-person protest). On the other hand, going on strike was probably the only solution for her as she feels so strongly about the cause.
Another concern of mine is the sheer media attention (or even hype). Greta is an exceptional young woman, but she also happens to be the daughter of wellknown and well-connected people (her mum is one of Sweden's best known opera singers and her father is an actor). Although her agenda is good, to me it's slightly off-putting that the family published a book about their family situation with children who are not like most children at the time she hit the news. I don't know... there is a thin line between raising awareness and capitalising on attention. Another thing (which she most likely cannot do anything about herself) is that although she refuses to fly, the media circus that follows in her footsteps no doubt leads to an increase in travel and consumerism. Although one might argue that the end justifies the means, there is something about the way she is presented (by others, not by herself) that makes me think the media coverage will be interesting to look back upon in a decade or two. She is presented as the saviour our world needs, but is it reasonable to put that responsibility on the slim shoulders of this 16-year-old?! I do think she started her campaign herself but it would not have grown this big without people behind the scenes. Whether that is a good thing or not, I don't know.
Having said that, it's probably not surprising she comes from Sweden. Overall, people here are very much aware of climate issues and the importance of thinking about sustainability. For instance, many people here really try to avoid flying when there are other means of transport, meat consumption is going down, recycling of goods (clothes, furniture, etc) is growing, etc. Over the last deacde, national and local authorities have implemented strict agendas concerning sustainability for schools and other parts of the public sector. We have also had high taxes on gas for many years (here one US gallon is about USD 5,70) in order to minimise the use of cars.
So to answer your question, I would say most people here know that what she says is important (and it's great that she raises awareness) but the whole show around her meets with criticism.
