“We are not listening to climate scientists, we’re not listening to scientists who work on biodiversity and that, of course, needs to change.”

Greta Thunberg has accused the world of not paying attention to the climate crisis despite the pandemic showing the importance of listening to science.

She states that nations are listening to ‘one type’ of scientists while ignoring warnings of climate experts.

The Swedish teenager made the comments in a joint interview with the author Margaret Atwood, broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on Tuesday as part of the two-times Booker prize-winning writer’s guest-editing of the Today programme.

‘Need to change’

Her response came in reply to the question as to whether people’s new-found appreciation of science driven by the pandemic would have an effect on climate information as well.

“It could definitely have. I think this pandemic has shone a light on how … we are depending on science and that we cannot make it without science,” Thunberg said.

“But of course, we are only listening to one type of scientist, or some types of scientist, and, for example, we are not listening to climate scientists, we’re not listening to scientists who work on biodiversity and that, of course, needs to change.”

The vegan climate activist also expressed her doubts when asked about nations’ pledges to reduce their carbon emissions, such as China which has committed to reaching a net-zero target by 2060.

“That would be very nice if they actually meant something,” said Thunberg.

“’We can’t just keep talking about future, hypothetical, vague, distant dates and pledges. We need to do things now. And also net-zero … that is a very big loophole, you can fit a lot in that word net.”

She, however, did indicate that the election of Joe Biden as US president, sent a “signal” that “it could be a good start of something new” since he pledged to rejoin the Paris climate agreement on the first day of his presidency,

“Let’s hope that it is like that, and let’s push for it to become like that,” she said.

"We need to take action"
"Any biological group, if the food supply runs out, that group crashes"

Here's what happened when teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg and veteran author and environmentalist Margaret Atwood met, via Zoomhttps://t.co/w5VUF0bOGg pic.twitter.com/r5RWk4XPYT

— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) December 29, 2020

Before it’s too late

The 17-year-old is scheduled to discuss the climate crisis with the Dalai Lama in an upcoming event hosted by the Mind & Life Insitute.

The two climate advocates will address the question ‘what can be done to slow down this threat before it’s too late?’ on January 9, 2021.

For now, she is happy being back in school after taking a gap year in 2019 to campaign for climate action.

• Read: More than 1.5 billion face masks believed to have flooded the oceans in 2020

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Mohsina Dodhiya

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