Thunberg Delivers Warning To World Leaders During Vancouver 'Climate Strike'
Source: Vancouver Sun
Climate-change activist Greta Thunberg warned world leaders that “change is coming whether you like it or not” during a Vancouver climate strike that featured First Nations activists from across Canada.
Thunberg, 16, spoke from the steps of the Vancouver Art Gallery during the ninth climate strike organized by the Sustainabiliteens. The Metro Vancouver youth group has been staging Fridays for Future events inspired by Thunberg, who began going on strike from school on Fridays to protest government inaction to deal with the climate crisis. (Read the full text of her speech.)
Police estimated that about 12,000 people gathered outside the art gallery by the time Thunberg took the stage. The event was billed as a “post-election” climate strike and followed a similar event on Sept. 27, when an estimated 100,000 people gathered outside Vancouver city hall. Thunberg expressed her amazement as she looked over the crowd from the gallery’s north steps following an earlier rally and march downtown.
Thunberg also said she stood in solidarity with 15 young Canadians who had earlier in the day announced they are suing the federal government, alleging climate-change related harms. An 18-year-old plaintiff, Sophia Sidarous, of the Metepenagiag First Nation in Quebec, told the Vancouver crowd that the climate crisis threatened her way of life and the existence of the Mi’kmaq people. Local salmon populations have almost disappeared and moose populations have declined sharply, she said...
Read more: https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/thunberg-delivers-warning-to-world-leaders-during-vancouver-climate-strike
First Nations climate activists who called for government to act against climate change joined the young activist. Chief Judy Wilson of the Neskonlith First Nation gave Thunberg a scarf adorned with a hummingbird which she wore during the speech.
Thunberg told the crowd that the millions of people participating in Fridays for Future events had given her hope. She then ripped into world leaders for ignoring warnings from scientists about climate change for decades. “It is the year 2019 and the people in power are still acting as if there was no tomorrow,” “We young people are telling them to stop doing that, to stop ignoring the consequences of their actions and inactions, to stop leaving their mess for someone else to clean up. Because we do not want to do it for them.”
By working together Thunberg said, climate strikers are an unstoppable “wave of change” that will constantly remind world leaders to act in response to the science. They will also hold the people responsible for the climate crisis accountable. “And if you feel threatened by that, then I have some very bad news for you,” “This is just the beginning. We will continue. Because change is coming whether you like it or not.”
- Joan Phillip, Grand Chief Stewart Phillip and Chief Judy Wilson listen as Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg addresses the crowd at a climate rally in Vancouver on Friday, Oct. 25, 2019.
- Approximately 15,000 people outside the Vancouver Art Gallery to protest the state of the global environment and listen to speakers, including Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg.
- Marchers protest the state of the global environment and listen to speakers, including Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, in Vancouver on Friday.
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