Greta Thunberg Pens Open Letter to European Leaders Urging Climate Change Action
Signed by Margaret Atwood, Björk and more.
17-year-old activist Greta Thunberg has launched an open letter, addressed to European leaders and heads of state, demanding immediate action to help curb climate change. Accompanied by the hashtag #FaceTheClimateEmergency, Thunberg’s letter is signed by a range of scientists, activists and celebrities including Margaret Atwood, Björk, Leonardo DiCaprio and Rina Sawayama.
The letter begins by imploring leaders to “stop pretending that we can solve the climate and ecological crisis without treating it as a crisis.” Thunburg goes on to list a set of demands including immediate suspension of investments in fossil fuels and the establishment of annual carbon emission budgets. She also demands that leaders recognize ecocide, the destruction of Earth’s ecological systems, as a crime.
Thunberg concludes with a call to action: “…even though you might have the option of ignoring the climate crisis, that is not an option for us — for your children. Right now, there is no place on earth where children face a future in a safe environment,” she writes. “This is and will be very much a reality for the rest of our lives. We ask you to face the climate emergency.”
Head to the Climate Emergency EU website to read Thunberg’s full letter.
