Last week, members of the World Economic Forum (annual membership fee $60,000) flew to Davos for an invite-only gathering. Among the star-studded cast stood climate activist Greta Thunberg. The 16-year-old made waves last month for reprimanding world leaders at the COP24 summit in Katowice, Poland: “You only talk about moving forward with the same bad ideas that got us into this mess … you are not mature enough to tell it like it is.”
As part of Generation Z myself, I have never found an individual who so accurately represents my own feelings on the issue. Thunberg may be one of the first of our generation to make headlines, but she certainly will not be the last. As this issue perpetuates, so will the persistence of our voices.
At Davos, Thunberg was asked to give a short speech.
“Adults keep saying we owe it to the young people, to give them hope. But I don’t want your hope; I want you to act,” she said. “I want you to act as you would in a crisis. I want you to act as if the house is on fire, because it is.”
Greta Thunberg is currently on fire. Unfortunately, so is our world.
