Very recently, international climate strikes lasting from September 20th to September 27th made headlines across the world. UN Climate Meets have also sparked some talk lately, with one girl making a very large presence for herself. Her name is Greta Thunberg; very recently, she gave an emotionally-filled speech that powerfully appealed to the pathos of her audience. She mentioned about how other countries gave “empty words” about climate change in order to talk “money and fairy tales linked to eternal economic growth.” 

However, she doesn’t seem to be getting all the praise, and it lies in part due to a faulty climate complaint she and 15 other children filed through UNICEF. In it, they accused Germany, France, Brazil, Argentina, and Turkey for lacking to involve in climate action. As Thunberg stated, “Change needs to happen now if we are to avoid the worst consequences. The climate crisis is not just the weather. It means also, lack of food and lack of water, places that are unlivable and refugees because of it.” 

One of the major problems with this proposal is that it leaves out the two biggest countries for greenhouse gas emission: China and India. While Thunberg mentions good countries that contribute lots of GHG emissions, she somehow forgot the two biggest contributors. China and India alone have increased their carbon emissions by nearly 150%-200%.

She could’ve also mentioned the US, as well as other countries who refused participation in the Paris Climate agreement.

All in all, Ms. Thunberg should’ve done her research. I appreciate her attempts to bring about changes to climate action and extreme poverty, but her execution fell extremely short.