''We are in the beginning of a mass extinction and all you can talk about is money and fairytales of eternal economic growth''.
Climate activist Greta Thunberg's powerful speech on the action (or lack there of) taken by world leaders on the issue of climate change has reverberated around the world.
During the speech the 16-year-old became quite emotional and was clearly upset at the situation. As she gave dire warnings of the state of our planet and the monumental task facing future generations like her own to fix the situation.
''People are suffering,'' she said.
''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.”
However in typical fashion US president Donald Trump shared a video of her speech on Twitter but then appeared to take a swipe at the teen.
“She seems like a very happy young girl looking forward to a bright and wonderful future. So Nice to see!” he wrote above a video of Ms Thunberg being visibly distressed.
She seems like a very happy young girl looking forward to a bright and wonderful future. So nice to see! https://t.co/1tQG6QcVKO
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 24, 2019
Ms Thunberg accused world leaders of ignoring 30 years of “crystal clear” science behind the climate crisis.
Something that's also crystal clear is her dislike for Mr. Trump, if this stare-down is anything to go by:
Can you nominate a gif for an Oscar? pic.twitter.com/0lMEDZ2Qoa
— Zack Bornstein (@ZackBornstein) September 23, 2019
“This is all wrong. I shouldn’t be up here,” she told the international heads of state.
“I should be back in school on the other side of the ocean.
“Yet you have come to us young people 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. People are suffering. People are dying. Entire ecosystems are collapsing.
“You say you hear us, and that you understand the urgency...I do not want to believe that. “Because if you really understood the situation, and still kept on failing to act, then you would be evil. And that I refuse to believe.”
She told the UN that even the strictest emission cuts being talked about only gives the world a 50 per cent chance of limiting future warming to another 0.4C from now, which is a global goal. Those odds are not good enough, she said.
“We will not let you get away with this,” Ms Thunberg continued. “Right now is where we draw the line.”
Her speech was met with a stunned silence — then a rapturous applause.