Climate activist Greta Thunberg once again fused the Palestinian cause with the climate change movement as she participated in her weekly “Fridays for Future” protest outside parliament in Stockholm on December 15.
During the demonstration, she prominently displayed a Palestinian flag and held a “Free Palestine” sign – a photo of which she uploaded to her personal X account while bashing the Conference of the Parties (COP28) climate deal. She also proclaimed that the world will be “transitioning away from fossil fuels” to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.
Nearly 200 countries adopted the agreement last week. It was the first time in the conference’s 28-year history that all fossil fuels were mentioned in an accord.
Thunberg, 20, has been “standing with Gaza” since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, not only on social media but also at rallies. She was recently filmed chanting “crush Zionism” at a pro-Palestinian rally in Sweden.
However, this time, she aimed at the climate community, too.
Climate strike week 278. The final outcome of #COP28 is not a “historic win”, it is yet another example of extremely vague and watered down texts full of loopholes that in no way is even close to being sufficient for staying within the 1,5° limit and ensure climate justice.1/3 pic.twitter.com/w6lZ5VOLSd
— Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) December 15, 2023
"The final outcome of #COP28 is not a 'historic win,'" Thunberg tweeted. "It is yet another example of extremely vague and watered-down texts full of loopholes that in no way is even close to being sufficient for staying within the 1.5° limit and ensuring climate justice.
Thunberg: We need drastic immediate emission cuts
"Phasing out fossil fuels is a bare minimum," she wrote in the three-part thread. "We need drastic immediate emission cuts and binding commitments from the largest contributors of the climate crisis to finance loss and damages, adaptation and a just transition in the most affected areas."
She ended with a harsh: “Let’s call this COP out for what it is – another betrayal and a stab in the back.”
Thunberg said in a video interview with Reuters at the protest that the deal has “once again proven” that the COP processes are not working to solve the climate crisis, but are instead “an alibi for world leaders to say that ‘oh, we signed this’ and then not doing anything. If the COPs had led to anything, we would have seen results by now.”
Thunberg’s disregard for the lives lost as a result of the October 7 Hamas massacre has put her under fire in Israel, where the environmental activist community and others have spoken out strongly against her.
In October, she posted a photo on X in which she and her friends held signs like “Free Palestine,” “Stand with Gaza,” “This Jew Stands with Palestine,” and “Climate Justice Now.” After that post, the Education Ministry said it would remove any mentions of the climate activist as a “role model” from the nation’s public school curriculum.
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