A biography for Greta Thunburghasn’t been written yet.
“I think in many ways that we autistic are the normal ones and the rest of the people are pretty strange. They keep saying that climate change is an existential threat and the most important issue of all. And yet they just carry on like before.”
“I don't care about age. Nor do I care about those who do not accept the science. I don't have as much experience, and therefore I listen more. But I also have the right to express my opinion, no matter my age.”
“We should no longer measure our wealth and success in the graph that shows economic growth, but in the curve that shows the emissions of greenhouse gases.”
“Of course, individual change doesn't make much difference in a holistic picture... but we need both systemic change and individual change.”
“The most common criticism I get is that I'm being manipulated and you shouldn't use children in political ways, because that is abuse, and I can't think for myself and so on. And I think that is so annoying! I'm also allowed to have a say - why shouldn't I be able to form my own opinion and try to change people's minds?”
“To do your best is no longer good enough. We now have to do the seemingly impossible.”
“I thought I couldn't make a difference because I was too small.”
“Sometimes it's Tune-berg, sometimes Thunn-berg. I mean, I think it's funny that everyone pronounces it differently. So, that is just - I don't mind anyone pronouncing it wrong. There's no wrong way to pronounce it. Everyone pronounces it in their own way.”
“Most emissions aren't caused by individuals, they're caused by corporations and states.”
“When I was 11 I became very depressed. It had a lot to do with the climate and ecological crisis. I thought everything was just so wrong and nothing was happening and there's no point in anything.”
“It is our future on the line, and we must at least have a say in it.”
“We can no longer save the world by playing by the rules.”
“The climate crisis is both the easiest and the hardest issue we have ever faced. The easiest because we know what we must do. We must stop the emissions of greenhouse gases. The hardest because our current economics are still totally dependent on burning fossil fuels, and thereby destroying ecosystems in order to create everlasting economic growth.”
“We can't just choose to tell some facts and not others because we don't want to upset people. We have to tell it like it is.”
“Giving up cannot be an option.”
“Solving the climate crisis is the greatest and most complex challenge that homo sapiens have ever faced. The main solution, however, is so simple that even a small child can understand it. We have to stop our emissions of greenhouse gases.”
“I am an introvert; privately I am very shy, and I don't speak unless I have to.”
“I have always been that girl in the back who doesn't say anything.”
“We can't just continue living as if there was no tomorrow, because there is a tomorrow.”
“Some say we should not engage in activism. Instead we should leave everything to our politicians and just vote for a change instead. But what do we do when there is no political will? What do we do when the politics needed are nowhere in sight?”