Greta Thunberg in Davos: “The elite prioritize greed and short-term profit over people and the planet”

Swedish activist Greta Thunberg on Thursday accused the political and business elite at the World Economic Forum in Davos of “prioritizing people and the planet over greed and short-term profit”.

“Now we’re in Davos, where mostly the people who are contributing the most to the destruction of the planet, the people who are at the center of the climate crisis, the people who invest in fossil fuels, and so on. And yet, in a way, these are the people we seem to trust to solve our problems,” Thunberg said at an event hosted by CNBC.

“They have repeatedly shown that they do not prioritize [a nuestros problemas]. They prioritize their own greed, corporate greed and short-term economic gain over people and the planet,” he denounced.

Thunberg called it “absurd” that the world is listening to Davos delegates and not “those on the front lines”. “The people we need to listen to are not here,” the activist said, adding that we are being “bombarded” with messages from people who are “causing this crisis”.

At a high-level meeting in Davos this Thursday with International Energy Agency (IEA) Director Fatih Birol and climate activists Helena Gualinga, Louise Neubauer and Vanessa Nakate, Thunberg called on the global energy industry and their financiers. Stop all investment in fossil fuels.

During that meeting, activists said they presented a “cease and desist” letter to the CEOs, demanding an end to further oil, gas and coal mining. in the order The Cease and Desist Agreement, signed by Thunberg, Gualinga, Neubauer and Nakate, claims that Big Oil has known for decades that fossil fuels are causing climate change and that they have misled the public and politicians.

“You must stop these actions as they are a direct violation of our human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, your duty of care and the rights of indigenous peoples,” the order said.

“Changes will come not from the inside, but from the outside. They will go as far as they can for their own benefit,” Thunberg said, referring to fossil fuel companies. “As long as they can get away with it, they will continue to invest in fossil fuels, they will continue to throw people under the bus,” added the young Swede, who was arrested a few days ago at an environmental protest in Germany. Against coal mine expansion.

Thunberg also used the occasion to criticize the United Arab Emirates for appointing the head of its state oil company to chair this year’s climate summit. The Swede called it “absolutely ridiculous” that Sultan Ahmed Al-Jaber, chief executive of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), is leading the next round of global climate talks in Dubai in November.

According to the activist, pressure groups influence these conferences “basically forever”. “It speaks volumes,” he added. “This is completely ridiculous.”

In response to those comments, a COP28 spokesperson insisted that Al-Jaber was “particularly qualified to lead COP28 to a successful conclusion,” The Guardian reported. “He is an energy expert and the founder of one of the world’s leading renewable energy companies. [Masdar]A senior business leader, government minister and climate diplomat with over 20 years of experience in climate action,” the spokesperson said.

During a visit to Davos, a reporter for Canada’s Rebel News, a notorious climate change denier, accused Thunberg of “posing with the police” during her arrest in Germany. “How many times have you rehearsed Arrest?”, “Would you say you’re a child actor?” Are you a child actor or an expert?” the journalist asked, to which the activist laughed. “It’s very likely that the German police and a fossil fuel company arranged the arrest,” Thunberg said with a laugh.

Another reporter from the disaffected media asked him about the cold weather in the Swiss city. “Greta, it’s pretty cold in Davos, when can we expect global warming?” he said, to which she laughed too.