On Saturday the 25th of June at 5:15 pm, Greta Thunberg stood on the Pyramid Stage to give a warning to festival goers about the climate crisis. Taking inspiration from David Attenborough’s appearance in 2019, where he stood on the same stage to thank festival goers for ditching single-use plastics.
The Swedish activist warned the crowd that climate change ‘is not the new normal’ and will only get worse. She also urged the crowds to ‘prioritise people and planet over profits and greed.’ She reassured the audience that there was still hope if they chose to live their lives more sustainably and if the world made decisions that “leads to a future for everyone”.
The activist went on to accuse the world’s leaders of creating loopholes in their pledges and plans for climate change, and that they say one thing and then their actions are the opposite. She gave evidence for her argument as she pointed out world leaders are calling what is happening to the planet a ‘climate emergency’ but they are opening new pipelines, coal mines and oil fields that will produce further carbon emissions.
The activist stated that the public has come to expect its political leaders to lie to them and that if we want to stop a ‘total natural catastrophe’ we need to challenge ‘the forces of greed’.
Glastonbury co-organiser, Emily Eavis, introduced Greta Thunberg to the stage as “the most inspiring speaker of this generation” and the 19-year-old delivered on this as her speech captivated her audience as they stood silent to listen to her. Only ending the silence to cheer for her.
If we want to fight the effects of climate change it is people like Greta Thunberg that we should be listening to and taking advice from as: ‘Together we can do the seemingly impossible’.
