Tag: Greta Thunberg

Greta Thunberg goes on trial over Swedish climate protest

STOCKHOLM, July 24, 2023 (AFP) – Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg is set to go on trial on Monday charged with disobeying police at a rally last month, in which activists blocked the port in the city of Malmo. She is due to appear before the court in the southern Swedish city at 0930 GMT. The 20-year-old activist “took part in a demonstration that disrupted traffic” and “refused to obey police orders to leave the […]

Not phasing out fossil fuels is ‘death sentence’: Greta Thunberg

BONN, June 13, 2023 (AFP) – Failure to end use of fossil fuels will be a “death sentence” to millions worldwide, Swedish activist Greta Thunberg warned on Tuesday, urging politicians to take more ambitious action. “It will be impossible for us to stick to the 1.5-degree limit without a rapid, equitable, fossil fuel phase-out,” Thunberg told a press conference. She was referring to the 2015 Paris Agreement, at which world leaders pledged to cut greenhouse […]

COP26 strikes hard-fought deal but UN says ‘not enough’

by Patrick GALEY, Jitendra JOSHI, Kelly MACNAMARA and Marlowe HOOD Agence France-Presse GLASGOW, United Kingdom (AFP) – Nearly 200 nations came together Saturday on a global deal to combat climate change after two weeks of painful negotiation, but fell short of what science says is needed to contain dangerous temperature rises. Rich countries stood accused of failing at the COP26 summit in Glasgow to deliver much-needed finance to vulnerable states at risk of drought, rising […]

Protesters demand climate action in global rally

by Kelly MACNAMARA and Patrick GALEY Agence France-Presse GLASGOW, United Kingdom (AFP) – Tens of thousands of protesters braved rain and wind in Glasgow Saturday as part of worldwide demonstrations against what campaigners say is a failure of crunch UN climate talks to act fast enough to tame global warming. Dozens of events were planned worldwide to demand cuts in fossil fuel use and immediate help for communities already affected by climate change, particularly in […]

Thunberg slams 30 years of climate ’empty words’

MILAN, Italy (AFP) – Swedish activist Greta Thunberg opened a youth climate summit on Tuesday by lambasting three decades of government inaction, accusing world leaders of having “drowned” future generations with “empty words and promises”. Speaking weeks ahead of a crunch UN climate meeting in Glasgow, Thunberg accused governments of “shamelessly congratulating themselves” for insufficient pledges to cut emissions and promises of financing. Hurling leaders’ own words back at them, the 18-year-old laid bare to […]

Thunberg to join mass German climate strikes before vote

by Deborah COLE Agence France-Presse BERLIN, Germany (AFP) – Tens of thousands of climate activists including Greta Thunberg are due to descend on German cities Friday ahead of the weekend general election to crank up the pressure on the candidates to succeed Angela Merkel. As Germany’s top parties hold final rallies ahead of Sunday’s vote, the Fridays for Future youth marches will make the case that the political class has let down the younger generation. […]

French state liable for climate inaction, court rules

by Stéphane ORJOLLET Agence France-Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — A French court on Wednesday held the state responsible for its failure to take sufficient measures to halt climate change, a first in the country hailed as a victory by NGOs who brought the case with the backing of over two million citizens. The administrative court in Paris ruled that the government’s failure to convert its commitments on reducing greenhouse gas emissions into policy made it […]

Greta Thunberg donates million-euro rights prize to green groups

STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AFP) — Climate activist Greta Thunberg was on Monday awarded a Portuguese rights award and promptly pledged the million-euro prize to groups working to protect the environment and halt climate change. “That is more money than I can begin to imagine, but all the prize money will be donated, through my foundation, to different organisations and projects who are working to help people on the front line, affected by the climate crisis and […]

Thunberg donates $100,000 to support children during pandemic

UNITED NATIONS, United States (AFP) — Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg has donated a $100,000 prize she won from a Danish foundation to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) for use against the COVID-19 pandemic, the world body said Thursday. “Like the climate crisis, the coronavirus pandemic is a child rights crisis,” Thunberg, 17, was quoted as saying in the UNICEF statement. “It will affect all children, now and in the long term, but vulnerable […]

‘What use is wealth if it burns?’ Britain’s Prince Charles sounds climate alarm

DAVOS, Switzerland (AFP) – Stuart WILLIAMS Britain’s Prince Charles on Wednesday told business leaders at the Davos economic forum that wealth was of no use if it doesn’t help tackle climate change, as he met Swedish teen activist Greta Thunberg and warned over the perils of global warming and environmental damage. Charles, the eldest son of the Queen and heir to the throne, met Thunberg in Davos on the same day as President Donald Trump […]

Trump tears into environmental ‘doom’ mongers at WEF

DAVOS, Switzerland (AFP) – Sebastian SMITH and Alex PIGMAN President Donald Trump tore into environmental “prophets of doom” at the Davos forum Tuesday, rejecting fiery warnings from teenage campaigner Greta Thunberg and talking up his own record in a counterpoint to impeachment back home. Thunberg was in the audience in the Swiss Alps to hear the typically bullish speech by Trump, delivered just before the US Senate opened the crucial next stage in his trial […]

Global decision-makers gather in Davos

PARIS, France (AFP) – Stuart WILLIAMS Global decision-makers gather in Davos starting Tuesday for their annual meeting, with challenges facing the planet — from climate change to conflict in the Middle East — as imposing as the Alps that surround the Swiss resort. Observers fear the annual World Economic Forum will serve only to again expose the differences between East and West, the US and the EU, and business and activists in combating the most […]