New Zealand, highlighting the poor climate efforts demonstrated by the Trans-Tasman nation. “It‘s funny that people believe Jacinda Ardern and people like that are climate leaders. That just tells you how little people know about the climate crisis,” Thunberg noted. “Obviously the emissions haven‘t fallen. It goes without saying that these people are not doing anything.” During the year which ended in March this year, greenhouse gas emissions in New Zealand fell by 4.5 per cent on account of the pandemic, and resumed an upwards trend since then.
During her address at the summit on Tuesday, Ugandan youth activist Vanessa Nakate echoed the views of expressed Thunberg, as she reiterated the impact of the climate crisis on younger generations.
“How long must children sleep hungry because their farms have been washed away, because their crops have been dried up because of the extreme weather conditions?” Nakate inquired. “How long are we to watch them die of thirst and gasp for air in the floods? World leaders watch this happen and allow this to continue.”
She went on criticise policy makers, particularly in the most developed economies, for their failure to accept responsibility for their contribution towards this global crisis and to support vulnerable countries to adapt to extreme climate conditions. “It’s time for our leaders to stop talking and start acting, it’s time for the polluters to pay, it’s time to keep promises,” the young Ugandan said. “No more empty promises, no more empty summits, no more empty conferences. It’s time to show us the money.”
