Greta Thunberg, a student of Class IX, started a movement by protesting and holding a placard written “School Strike for Climate” outside the Swedish parliament in 2018. Greta Thunberg and other young activists sat in front of the Swedish parliament every schoolday for three weeks against the lack of action on the climate crisis. The intention was very clear. The strike on the part of young students was to create pressure upon the government to meet carbon emissions targets. Without any doubt, their small yet powerful campaign had a global effect, as it could encourage millions of young people, especially students, across the world to organize their own strikes. In order to support and promote the movement on a large global scale, a platform, known as ‘Fridays For Future’ was formed. The movement did not stop and was not restricted within the narrower boundary of Sweden only. In 2019, Thunberg sailed across the Atlantic to attend a UN climate conference in New York. The stage was already set and Greta could steal the limelight of the conference. In her illustrious and influential speech, Thunberg accused the world leaders of their inaction. She noted that “you all come to us young people for hope. How dare you? You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words.” In 2020, even in the middle of a very severe situation of the pandemic, the Climate Strike was observed on 25th September.
In 2021, the strike is being observed on 24th September. Commenting on the continuous inaction of the world leaders, Greta Thunberg recently noted that “None of the world’s major economies – including the entire G20 – have a climate plan that meets their obligations.” It is no wonder that their organization ‘Friday For Future’ gave a clarion call to “uproot the system” that, primarily driven by a profit making venture, has utilized and subverted the Nature. The rapidity of this degradation of Nature seems to have accelerated with the commencement of the Industrial Revolution in the West. In fact, consumption of natural resources since the mid-1900s (after the Industrial Revolution in the West) has surpassed consumption prior to that time. Thus, the advanced Western countries cannot evade their historical ‘contribution’ towards the present climate crisis across the globe. It is also paradoxical to note that the Most Affected People and Areas (MAPA) typically include impoverished countries of the Global South (Africa, Latin America, Asia etc.). In fact, these countries have not seen an Industrial Revolution and hence per capita consumption of natural resources are much lower, while the advanced countries of the West have been the largest consumer of the natural resources. Thus, for instance, the US, with fewer than 5% of world population, consumes about 30% of the natural resources. In other words, the developing countries are worst affected for climate crisis, in which they have very little ‘contribution’. It is high time that the developed countries must act against the inaction on the climate crisis. To halt global warming, the emission of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere by varied human activities needs to be reduced and must be brought all the way to zero. To save the world, to make sure the existence of humanity, we must ACT because there is no Plan B.
