As Trump lashes out at “prophets of doom” in Davos, Greta Thunberg calls for climate action – “I want you to feel the fear I feel every day. And then I want you to act.”
By Rick Noack
21 January 2020
(The Washington Post) – Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg and President Trump offered two opposing visions at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Tuesday, with Trump lashing out at what he said were “perennial prophets of doom and their predictions of the apocalypse” as Thunberg inveighed against the sowers of “climate chaos.”
“We will never let radical socialists destroy our economy, wreck our country or eradicate our liberty,” Trump said at the conference.
Even though Trump said he was a “big believer in the environment” and did not explicitly name climate change as he lashed out at “alarmists,” his remarks stood in stark contrast to the 17-year old Thunberg’s renewed call to “start listening to the science” on climate change. The world, she said on Tuesday, needs to “treat this crisis with the importance it deserves.”
Thunberg’s remarks echoed her prior warning in Davos last year, when she told world leaders: “I don’t want your hope. I don’t want you to be hopeful. I want you to panic. I want you to feel the fear I feel every day. And then I want you to act.”
The Swedish teenager’s activism helped inspire a global climate action movement, which earned her Time Magazine’s Person of the Year title in December.
“Without treating it as a real crisis, we cannot solve it,” Thunberg said at the annual conference, which brings together political and economic leaders from around the world.
Thunberg is also set to give a second speech Tuesday afternoon. “Our house is still on fire. Your inaction is fueling the flames by the hour. We are still telling you to panic, and to act as if you loved your children above all else,” Thunberg is set to say, according to a transcript of her planned remarks, shared with The New York Times.
While she and Trump did not mention each other directly in their speeches, their remarks represented a head-on collision of worldviews. In his remarks, according to reports, he referred to today’s activists as “the heirs of yesterday’s foolish fortune tellers.”
Robert Habeck, leader of the German Greens, said he “hadn’t expected much, but [Trump’s] speech was a disaster for the conference, for the idea of the conference, for the idea of multilateralism.”
As Trump lashes out at ‘prophets of doom’ in Davos, Greta Thunberg calls for climate action
Davos 2020: Trump rejects ‘prophets of doom’ at climate-focused WEF
21 January 2020 (DW) – U.S. President Donald Trump dismissed the concerns of environmental activists as “pessimism” in a speech to political and business leaders at the start of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos on Tuesday.
Climate change and global warming are topping the agenda at this year’s annual meeting in the Swiss ski resort of Davos, with activists at odds with businesses and governments about how to tackle the issue.
What Trump said:
- The US leader dubbed climate activists “prophets of doom” and rejected their warnings, saying: “Fear and doubt is not a good thought process.”
- Despite concerns about emissions, Trump praised the US as one of the world’s largest producers of natural gas.
- He announced that the US would be joining the WEF’s one trillion trees initiative.
- When asked about his stance on climate change by reporters ahead of his speech, he said: “I’m a big believer in the environment. The environment is very important to me.”
- Much of Trump’s speech focused on praising his administration’s domestic economic policies, saying that by rolling back regulations, prosperity “would come thundering back at record speed.”
- “A nation’s highest duty is to its own citizens,” he said. “Only when governments put their citizens first, will they be invested in their national futures.”
Greta: ‘Basically nothing has been done’
Following Trump’s speech, Swedish teen climate activist Greta Thunberg criticized world leaders and business executives for failing to meet their climate targets.
“Unlike you, my generation will not give up without a fight. The facts are clear but they are still too uncomfortable for you to address,” she told a panel.
“Our house is still on fire. Your inaction is fueling the flames by the hour. And we are telling you to act as if you loved your children above all else,” Thunberg said, echoing her remarks from her WEF appearance last year.
At a panel just before Trump arrived, Thunberg emphasized that moderate changes will not be enough to slow the impact of climate change.
“We are all fighting for the environment and climate. If you see it from a bigger perspective, basically nothing has been done. It will require much more than this. This is just the very beginning,” she said. [more]
Davos 2020: Trump rejects ‘prophets of doom’ at climate-focused WEF
