Swedish Greta Thunberg has slammed world leaders for their pledges to address the climate crisis, calling them "blah, blah, blah",at a youth climate summit that took place in Milan on Tuesday.
“Build back better. Blah, blah, blah. Green economy. Blah blah blah. Net zero by 2050. Blah, blah, blah,” the 18-year-old activist said in her speech. “This is all we hear from our so-called leaders. Words that sound great but so far have not led to action. Our hopes and ambitions drown in their empty promises.”
She also repeated statements by Boris Johnson, who said, "This is not some expensive, politically correct, green act of bunny hugging," and Narendra Modi, who said, "Fighting climate change demands for ingenuity, cooperation, and willpower," but insisted that the science was not deceiving. Thunberg spoke at the Youth4Climate forum, which took place just two days before dozens of ministers gather in Milan for a final high-level meeting before the COP26 climate negotiations in Glasgow in November.
According to the UN, carbon emissions are on course to climb by 16% by 2030, rather than the 50% reduction required to keep global warming within the internationally agreed limit of 1.5°C.
Greta's speech has sparked controversies on Twitter as netizens are not fully impressed by the "blah blah blah' phrase, which however did amaze quite a few people who say that it was a great step taken by the young activist.
Have a look at a few reactions:
