Greta Thunberg tells Cop31 the planet is being killed, not dying
At Cop31 in Antalya, Turkey, Greta Thunberg made her first appearance at the annual UN climate talks in five years, delivering a stark rebuke of governments that have failed to stop environmental breakdown. The Swedish activist, known for leading school climate strikes and more recently focusing on issues including the conflict in Gaza, told delegates the planet is “not dying, it is being killed and we know by who,” and that it is being killed by the people expected to come to its rescue. No one is coming to save us, she said; when states and other institutions threaten human rights, people must act as the adults in the room. Speaking on the fourth day of the two-week summit alongside activists from Nepal, Canada and Australia, she warned of a future of more genocides and ecocides, compromised basic rights, and necessities treated as luxuries, arguing that in such forums the crisis is clearly not under control.
World leaders in the Mediterranean coastal city offered their own assessments of faltering progress. Andy Burnham, the British prime minister and the only G7 leader present, called the UK’s record hot summer “not normal,” said the climate crisis is already devastating lives and livelihoods, promised net zero, and backed further electrification of economies. Beth John of Oxfam GB called his attendance a positive signal but said delivery, not declarations, is the real test. Turkey and Australia jointly preside over talks in which electrification is a possible headline pledge; some countries want the text to specify clean power. Campaigners criticised slow emissions cuts and the lack of a fossil-fuel phaseout. Climate Action Tracker reported on Thursday that current policies put the planet on course for 2.7C of heating by 2100, slightly worse than last year’s outlook and well above the promised 1.5C.
Thursday also brought accounts of harm. Nepal’s environment minister, Gita Chaudhary, described an August landslide from a melting glacier that killed more than 1,500 people — a “mountain tsunami” that destroyed lives and property that cannot be fully revived. Palestinian prime minister Mohammad Mustafa received a standing ovation for describing the environmental toll of the three-year war with Israel, including restrictions on land, water and resources and destruction in Gaza of water, sewage and farmland. Turkish hosts have accused Israel of genocide and declined to invite its leadership; Israel denies genocide and says it has fought a legitimate war.
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