We are not going to be satisfied by politicians saying 'we support you' and then walking away. We won't be satisfied until they meet our demands and act. That's why simply taking a selfie or posting support on Twitter isn't enough. That's why we have to keep striking.
Interpretation
This quote emphasizes the need for actionable support from leaders rather than mere verbal endorsements.
Greta Thunberg expresses frustration with superficial political support that lacks real commitment and action. She asserts that simply showing support through social media or symbolic gestures is inadequate, and stresses the importance of sustained activism and pressure to bring about genuine change and meet the demands of movements advocating for action on climate change and social justice.
In practice
In a speech about climate change, you might quote Thunberg to urge politicians to take real action.
When I was maybe eight or nine years old, I first learned about the climate crisis in school. My teachers taught me about it and we saw films and pictures of plastic in the ocean and extreme weather events. Those pictures were just stuck in my head; I thought, there is no point in anything.
I have been on the road and visited numerous places and met people from all over the globe. I can say that it looks nearly the same everywhere I have been: The climate crisis is ignored by people in charge, despite the science being crystal clear.
I want the politicians to prioritise the climate question, focus on the climate and treat it like a crisis.
We have to understand what the older generation has dealt to us, what mess they have created that we have to clean up and live with.
It felt like I was the only one who cared about the climate and the ecological crisis. My parents didn't care about it, my classmates didn't care about it, my relatives didn't care about this. I mean nobody I knew cared about this and I felt like I was the only one.
The thing that's made me open my eyes to what was happening to the environment and climate was films and documentaries.
Consumers are going to have get used to eating less meat - to paying more for better quality meat and eating significantly less of it.
How can we effect change in the world when only half of it is invited or feel welcome to participate in the conversation?
Travel is similar to therapy. You can go to the best psychologist in the world for ten years. If you don't feel like actively shifting anything in your life, there is nothing that person can do to change you.
I think that to acknowledge a new generation is to acknowledge some degree of obsolescence in yourself, and that is very hard to do and often comes with undeniable anger.
Anything in history or nature that can be described as changing steadily can be seen as heading toward catastrophe.
We can look forward to the day when the free flow of trade, from the southern reaches of Tierra del Fuego to the northern outposts of the Arctic Circle, unites the people of the Western Hemisphere in a bond of mutually beneficial exchange, when all borders become what the U.S.-Canadian border so long has been: a meeting place, rather than a dividing line.
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