FFP, Thunberg and the need to take climate activism beyond Europe
While advocating for a better environment is without doubt a noble cause, and the Swede’s devotion to it praiseworthy, it is high time for some diversity of purpose: to focus on areas other than the comfort zone and the need to go beyond virtual activism
Addressing the crowd mostly from within Europe, and an over-reliance on social media, seems a convenient option even as giving little focus on the activities of the developing countries, that also contribute significantly to global climate crisis, isn’t exactly helping matters
Was it intended to be a strategic masterstroke? Perhaps not. Was the timing perfect? Most definitely.
There was a total of 1,400 events across 90 countries. However, the biggest impact was felt in Germany. The Fridays for Future protests were held across the country just two days prior to the federal elections. Even climate activists and thousands of demonstrators made it a point to get noticed. Greta Thunberg, the founder of the movement, joined the event in Berlin, the nerve center of German politics.
“The climate crisis is an accumulative crisis. The CO2 we emit now will be up in the atmosphere for up to a millennium,” began the climate activist, at the rally in front of the Reichstag parliament building, before proceeding to tell the Germans yet again where their country was floundering.
“Germany is the fourth biggest emitter of CO2 in history. For a nation of about 80 million people that is quite an achievement,” said the Swede, in a sarcastic tone, even as she followed it up by reading a slew of statistics from the sheets of paper she was carrying to substantiate her speech.
Climate change was already one of the major issues in the lead up to Germany’s elections (held on September 26). In a landmark ruling this April, the country’s top court found the federal government’s plans to curb CO2 emissions “insufficient” to meet the targets of the Paris Agreement. The catastrophic floods in western Germany in July were the worst the country had faced in over 100 years, so much so that it made Chancellor Angela Merkel make an impassioned plea to her successor to do more to tackle the scourge of climate change.
In such a scenario the timing of this Fridays for Future (September 24) demonstrations couldn’t have been better. The Green Party, that wants Germany to be carbon neutral by 2041 and wants to shut down the country’s remaining coal power stations by 2030 — instead of the current 2038, made significant gains, and will now play a crucial role in the next government.
Make no mistake, Thunberg’s timely appearance in Berlin made no impact on the elections per se. Her repeated visits to the country albeit made some difference. Her last event in March 2020, just before the country went into the first phase of the coronavirus-induced lockdown, also registered. Before that it was in Berlin in 2019. Likewise she has also joined various student protests around Europe, and has been invited to speak at various forums, even addressing the British, European and French parliaments. Moreover, she has also made a few high profile trans-Atlantic trips to the United States and Canada, using a boat for the purpose, even as the media persons preferred flying over the ocean and wait for her arrival.
In fact a few days after her appearance in Berlin Thunberg addressed the opening session of a Youth4Climate event in Milan, Italy, mocking the leaders over “empty words and promises” and telling the delegates,
“There is no Planet B, there is no planet blah — blah, blah, blah; blah, blah, blah. This is not about some expensive politically- correct green act, bunny hugging, or blah blah blah.
“Build back better, blah blah blah; green economy, blah blah blah; Net Zero by 25… 2050, blah blah blah. Net Zero by 2050, blah blah blah. Net Zero, blah blah blah. Climate neutral, blah blah blah.” Expect more of the same at the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, or COP26, in Glasgow (Scotland) from October 31 to November 12.
While advocating for a better environment is without any iota of doubt a noble cause, and the Swede’s devotion to it praiseworthy, it is high time for a diversity of purpose. Addressing the crowd from within Europe, and to a certain extent North America is bluntly put, the more convenient of options. It gets the desired media attention and drives home the point alright. However, while climate change is a problem that is getting more attention in the developed countries at fault, it is also a fact that the developing countries are contributing significantly to global pollution — thanks largely to their uncontrolled development and a desperate desire to play catch up, are equally culpable. Not to forget their humongous populations and the resulting scamper for resources.
In 2019, for instance, China was the biggest emitter of carbon dioxide (CO2), with a share of almost 30 per cent of the world’s total CO2 emissions that year. The number was almost twice the amount emitted by the second largest emitter the United States. Another developing country, India, was third on the list. In 2021, the order has remained the same. On the contrary, Thunberg’s native Sweden, from where her activism began, continues to be among the world’s cleanest and greenest countries.
Have we yet seen Thunberg addressing the crowd in China? The answer is definitely not an affirmative. The teen can drive home the point a lot more convincingly if she tells a Chinese crowd what their country’s contribution is towards the climate crisis, in the manner she has done so repeatedly in Germany. Just for information, most social media channels that the Westerners used are banned in China, and there are Chinese versions of the same which obviously Thunberg doesn’t use.
When will we witness the Swede giving a dressing down to the leaders in the Middle East? Or Pakistan? Have we seen her in India? No. The only time she made the headlines in the world’s second most populous nation is when she tweeted her support for the farmers’ protest, her initial tweet linked to a document which provided a campaigning toolkit that contained suggestive actions. Her tweet received criticism from the Indian government, which said that it was an internal matter. In fact, Disha Ravi, a climate activist, who had edited the toolkit was arrested under the charges of sedition and criminal conspiracy. She later deleted her tweet but not before her lack of understanding in the subject matter had been exposed.
The kind of pressure Fridays for Future put on the West is conspicuous by its absence in other areas which are equally culpable, if not more. Neither her movement nor Thunberg in person has had the same kind of impact in these countries, who continue with their development programs at a rampant pace, with scant regard for the environment. To put the blame solely on Europe or America is nothing but convenience.
While the 18-year-old deserves praise for criticizing world leaders for their failure to address the climate crisis on a regular basis, she is guilty of doing so in a comfort zone. One can defend her with the “distance” reasoning and the fact that she doesn’t prefer flying as a travel option. Yes, she has refused to fly on environmental grounds, and has spearheaded the anti-flying movement. However, she also needs to realize that limits her reach, and needs to find other ways to drive home her point elsewhere. For that matter she has been promoting rail travel. She might as well use that option, practice what she preaches, no matter the distance.
Time and again many global leaders have been quoted as saying that the teenager is oversimplifying a major issue, that she is yet to understand the same from a broader perspective. Rightly so. On one hand the information she has at her disposal is by no means complete, and on the other the Swede is not old enough to understand everything in detail. Thunberg’s response to comments and social media posts by international leaders like Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin and Jair Bolsonaro are well…immature. More often than not they seem like a child’s reaction when he/she doesn’t like when the adults are rebuking him/her. Yes, she will learn more as she gets older but she has to refrain from posing herself as a know-all. For a person who is supposedly leading a global movement the Swede is expected to, and should show more maturity.
It can also be argued that she has commendable presence in the social media, and her posts are references for stories in the media that help earn international coverage. However, media is a double-edged sword. It’s impact cannot be overestimated, and it’s inherent negativity cannot be ignored.
Truth be told, no movement can have a global impact with a local setting. The kind of authority a person can have with direct interaction is impossible to attain through any of the media channels. Virtual activism has severe limitations. This is exactly where Thunberg needs to up her game. Being obstinate and rigid about one’s beliefs can put a spanner to the bigger cause.
Thunberg’s activism may click almost all the boxes when it comes to Europe, but in terms of personal reach at a global level she is yet to make as significant an impact. It is high time to have a diversity of purpose, the need to go beyond the comfort zone (and virtual activism) and look at the broader picture from close quarters.
