Greta Thunberg says young activists bear ‘too much responsibility’ in face of climate crisis

Climate activist says young people are bearing brunt of responsibility

Greta Thunberg (TT News Agency/AFP via Getty Images)

Greta Thunberg has said she and other young activists are bearing too much responsibility in the face of the climate crisis.

The 19-year-old Swedish activist said she wishes some people “would take up a bit more responsibility” over global warming, adding: “All the hope in the world rests on burned-out teenagers’ shoulders”.

Asked about being the face of a global movement in an interview with the BBC, Ms Thunberg said: “It is too much responsibility, both for me as an individual, but also for young people, on young people in general.

“There are many people of all ages who are stepping up, but it mostly falls on young people to do this. And it shouldn’t be that way. I just wish sometimes that people would take up a bit more responsibility.

“Because people always say to me like, ‘oh, it’s so hopeful when I see you guys and it gives me hope for the future, I’m not as worried anymore.’ And often I keep a straight face. But then sometimes I can snap. I say, like, ‘if you think that all the hope in the world rests on, like, burned-out teenagers’ shoulders. I mean, that’s not very good’.”

Germany Thunberg (AP)

Ms Thunberg also spoke about using her Twitter account to troll powerful people - including Donald Trump, after he tweeted that the teenager should “work on her anger management problem then go to a good old fashioned movie with a friend”.

To troll the then-US president, the teenager changed her Twitter bio to: “A teenager working on her anger management problem. Currently chilling and watching a good old fashioned movie with a friend.”

She told the BBC’s Amol Rajan: “I just think it’s genuinely funny. I mean, the most powerful people in the world feel intimidated by teenagers. That is funny. It says more about them than it does about me. “

In the interview ahead of her upcoming book,The Climate Book, the teenager also touched on the actions of some activists, agreeing that “the methods that some people have been using are very questionable and maybe do more harm than good.”

But she stressed that “most people are just genuinely worried about the future of humanity and want to do everything they can”.

It comes after two Just Stop Oil protesters on Monday climbed to the top of the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge which links Essex and Kent, forcing police to close the road to traffic.

A Just Stop Oil activist scaling the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge at the Dartford Crossing (PA Media)

The latest climate actions follow more than two weeks of continuous civil resistance by supporters of Just Stop Oil, with protesters spraying orange paint over the Aston Martin showroom on Park Lane on Sunday.

Since the campaign began on 1 April, Just Stop Oil say that their supporters have been arrested over 1,750 times.

Ms Thunberg’s interview for Amol Rajan Interviews comes just a matter of days after the young activist revealed she makes no income from her work as a climate campaigner.

She told Mr Rajan that the proceeds from her book will go to charity sand said that she hopes the donation would open up a conversation around the causes she helps.

Greta Thunberg: Amol Rajan Interviews is on BBC Two on Tuesday 18 October at 7.30pm.