'You Have Not Seen Anything Yet,' Climate Activist Greta Says Ahead of Davos

Source: New York Times

LAUSANNE, Switzerland -- Swedish activist Greta Thunberg marched with 10,000 protesters in the Swiss city of Lausanne on Friday and said "you have not seen anything yet" before some head to Davos next week to challenge the global financial elite to fight climate change.

The 17-year-old, who launched the #FridaysforFuture movement that has sparked worldwide protests, denounced a lack of government action to cut heat-trapping emissions before it is too late. "So, we are now in a new year and we have entered a new decade and so far, during this decade, we have seen no sign whatsoever that real climate action is coming and that has to change," Thunberg said in a speech in Lausanne.

"To the world leaders and those in power, I would like to say that you have not seen anything yet. You have not seen the last of us, we can assure you that. And that is the message that we will bring to the World Economic Forum in Davos next week." Protesters held signs including "Wake up and Smell the Bushfires" and "It is late but it is not too late".

Hundreds will take trains over the weekend and then march to Klosters near Davos, the annual gathering of world political and business leaders that Thunberg is attending for the second year in a row and will take part in two panel events...


Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2020/01/17/world/europe/17reuters-climate-change-protests.html

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- Climate activist Greta Thunberg joined thousands of protesters in Lausanne, Switzerland Jan. 17, 2020.

- 'Joining Thousands of Swiss Climate Strikers Before Davos, Greta Thunberg Tells World Leaders: 'You Haven't Seen Anything Yet' "We sure have done this for a long time. But we need to make clear that this is just the beginning," she told a crowd of thousands in Lausanne.
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/01/17/joining-thousands-swiss-climate-strikers-davos-greta-thunberg-tells-world-leaders
"The youth activists are planning to attend the Davos summit to demand that "participants from all companies, banks, institutions, and governments immediately halt all investments in fossil fuel exploration and extraction, immediately end all fossil fuel subsidies, and immediately and completely divest from fossil fuels."
Those demands were published in the Guardian last week on the same day that global climate groups launched the "Stop the Money Pipeline" campaign to pressure banks, insurers, and asset managers to cut ties with planet-destroying companies. Thunberg echoed those sentiments in her address to the crowd in Lausanne."..
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- 'Greta Thunberg Tells World Leaders To End Fossil Fuel Madness,' The Guardian, Jan. 10, 2020
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jan/10/greta-thunberg-tells-world-leaders-to-end-fossil-fuel-madness

Greta Thunberg and fellow youth climate campaigners are demanding that global leaders immediately end the “madness” of huge ongoing investments in fossil fuel exploration and enormous subsidies for coal, oil and gas use. The 21 young activists are also calling on the political and business leaders who will be attending the World Economic Forum in Davos to ensure investment funds dump their holdings in fossil fuel companies.

At Davos we will tell world leaders to abandon the fossil fuel economy. “Anything less would be a betrayal against life itself,” said Thunberg and colleagues in an article in the Guardian. “Today’s business as usual is turning into a crime against humanity. We demand that you play your part in putting an end to this madness.”
The burning of fossil fuels is the biggest driver of the climate emergency. Scientists predict catastrophic impacts unless deep cuts in emissions are made rapidly, but global emissions are still rising.

“Young people are being let down by older generations and those in power,” the climate strikers said. “To some it may seem like we are asking for a lot. But this is just the very minimum effort needed to start the rapid sustainable transition.”..