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Greta Thunberg

120 quotes

“Our house is on fire. I am here to say, our house is on fire. [...] Adults keep saying: “We owe it to the young people to give them hope.” But I don’t want your hope. I don’t want you to be hopeful. I want you to panic. I want you to feel the fear I feel every day. And then I want you to act. I want you to act as you would in a crisis. I want you to act as if our house is on fire. Because it is.”
Greta Thunberg (born 2003) first seen 2019 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Greta Thunberg, 16, urges leaders to act on climate, The Guardian (25 January 2019)
“Some people say that the climate crisis is something that we all have created. But that is just another convenient lie. Because if everyone is guilty then no one is to blame. And someone is to blame. Some people – some companies and some decision-makers in particular – have known exactly what priceless values they are sacrificing to continue making unimaginable amounts of money.”
Greta Thunberg (born 2003) first seen 2019 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Teen activist tells Davos elite they're to blame for climate crisis, CNN (25 January 2019)
“I think it is insane that people are gathered here to talk about the climate and they arrive here in private jets.”
Greta Thunberg (born 2003) first seen 2019 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Time to 'get angry', teen climate activist says in Davos, World Economic Forum, Davos (January 2019)...
“There are no emergency meetings, no headlines, no breaking news. No one is acting as if we were in a crisis. Even most climate scientists or green politicians keep on flying around the world, eating meat and dairy. … Today we use 100 million barrels of oil every single day. There are no politics to change that. There are no rules to keep that oil in the ground. So we can't save the world by playing by the rules. Because the rules have to be changed. Everything needs to change. And it has to start today.”
Greta Thunberg (born 2003) first seen 2018 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: School strike for climate - save the world by changing the rules", TEDxStockholm (24 November 2018)
“You only talk about moving forward with the same bad ideas that got us into this mess. Even when the only sensible thing to do is pull the emergency brake. You are not mature enough to tell it like it is. Even that burden you leave to your children.”
Greta Thunberg (born 2003) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We are about to sacrifice our civilization for the opportunity of a very small number of people to continue to make enormous amounts of money. [...] But it is the sufferings of the many which pay for the luxuries of the few. [...] You say that you love your children above everything else. And yet you are stealing their future.”
Greta Thunberg (born 2003) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We cannot solve a crisis without treating it as a crisis. [...] And if solutions within the system are so impossible to find, then maybe we should change the system itself?”
Greta Thunberg (born 2003) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We have not come here to beg world leaders to care. You have ignored us in the past and you will ignore us again. You've run out of excuses and we're running out of time. We've come here to let you know that change is coming, whether you like it or not. The real power belongs to the people.”
Greta Thunberg (born 2003) first seen 2018 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: You Are Stealing Our Future: Greta Thunberg, 15, Condemns the World’s Inaction on Climate Change, (13 December 2018)
“For 25 years, countless of people have stood in front of the United Nations Climate Change conference asking our nations’ leaders to stop the emissions. But clearly this has not worked, since the emissions just continue to rise. So I will not ask them anything. Instead, I will ask the people around the world to realize that our political leaders have failed us, because we are facing an existential threat and there is no time to continue down this road of madness.”
Greta Thunberg (born 2003) first seen 2018 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: School Strike for Climate: Meet 15-Year-Old Activist Greta Thunberg, Who Inspired a Global Movement, (11 December 2018)
“[...] why should I be studying for a future that soon will be no more, when no one is doing anything whatsoever to save that future? And what is the point of learning facts within the school system when the most important facts given by the finest science of that same school system clearly means nothing to our politicians and our society?”
Greta Thunberg (born 2003) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Today we use 100 million barrels of oil every day. [...] There are no rules to keep that oil in the ground. So we can't save the world by playing by the rules. Because the rules have to be changed. Everything needs to change. And it has to start today.”
Greta Thunberg (born 2003) first seen 2018 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Declaration of Rebellion, Extinction Rebellion, Parliament Square, London, 31 October 2018.
“For me, there is no way of distinguishing the two. We cannot have climate justice without social justice. … No matter the cause of the suffering—CO₂ or bombs or state repression—we have to stand up.”
Greta Thunberg (born 2003) first seen 2025 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Greta Thunberg Speaks from Aid Ship Heading to Gaza Despite Israeli Threats: It’s My Moral ObligationDemocracy now (June 4 2025)
“I’m just a teenager... My opinions on this doesn’t matter. You should rather look at the science and whether his policies are in line with the Paris agreements and to stay below 1.5 or even 2 degrees Celsius, and then you can clearly see that, no, it’s not nearly enough in line with the science. That’s not me saying, that’s just black and white, looking at the facts. I would just like you to basically just treat the climate crisis like a crisis. They have said themselves that this is an existential threat... They are just treating the climate crisis as it was a political topic, among other topics and, yeah, treat it as a crisis, that’s the No. 1 step. So what we need now is to raise awareness and to create public opinion to treat the crisis like a crisis. Because if people are not aware of the crisis that we face, of course they wouldn’t put pressure on the elected leaders. So I would just tell him to, to tell the situation as it is... how can you expect support and pressure from voters if you are not treating the crisis like a crisis.”
Greta Thunberg (born 2003) first seen 2021 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quoted in Greta Thunberg slams Joe Biden for ignoring ‘the science’ on climate change, New York Post (8 March 2021)
“People need to enhance their knowledge about the environment and demand action against climate change... We need to educate ourselves to understand the global processes linked to the climate crisis, to see what’s happening to our planet. People must learn as much as they can – there’s unlimited amount of information – and spread this information to create a social movement and shift the social norm. Because if we are enough people who demand change and advocate climate action, we will reach a critical mass and will no longer be possible to ignore. It’s not a small task but it’s something that we simply need to do because there’s no other option. Restoring Nature is not only a solution to the climate crisis, but also to the biodiversity crisis and so on.”
Greta Thunberg (born 2003) first seen 2021 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Dalai Lama, Thunberg interaction: ‘Need to educate ourselves on global processes linked to climate crisis’, The Indian Express, report on the livestream event. (10 January 2021)
“The worst-case scenario I guess I’ll buy second-hand, but I don’t need new clothes. I know people who have clothes, so I would ask them if I could borrow them or if they have something they don’t need any more. I don’t need to fly to Thailand to be happy. I don’t need to buy clothes I don’t need, so I don’t see it as a sacrifice. I’m not telling anyone else what to do, but there is a risk when you are vocal about these things and don’t practise as you preach, then you will become criticised for that and what you are saying won’t be taken seriously.... I don’t think it’s selfish to have children. It is not the people who are the problem, it is our behaviour...”
Greta Thunberg (born 2003) first seen 2021 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quoted in Greta Thunberg at 18: 'I'm not telling anyone what to do', Haroon Siddique, The Guardian, (3 January 2021)
“We are still speeding in the wrong direction. The five years following the Paris agreement have been the five hottest years ever recorded and, during that time, the world has emitted more than 200bn tonnes of CO2. Distant hypothetical targets are being set, and big speeches are being given. Yet, when it comes to the immediate action we need, we are still in a state of complete denial as we waste our time, creating new loopholes with empty words and creative accounting...Leaders should be telling the truth: that we are facing an emergency and we are not doing nearly enough. We need to prioritise the action that needs to be taken right here and right now, because it is right now that the carbon budget is being used up. We need to stop focusing on goals and targets for 2030 or 2050... We need to implement annual binding carbon budgets today.There is hope … we are the hope – we, the people... For me, the hope lies in democracy – it is the people who have the power. If enough people stand up together and repeat the same message, then there are no limits to what we can achieve.”
Greta Thunberg (born 2003) first seen 2020 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quoted in Greta Thunberg: 'We are speeding in the wrong direction' on climate crisis, Damian Carrington, The Guardian (10 Dec 2020)
“We can have as many meetings as we like, but the will to change is nowhere in sight. Society must start treating this as a crisis...On Thursday 20 August, it will be exactly two years since the first school strike for the climate took place....Today, leaders all over the world are speaking of an “existential crisis”. The climate emergency is discussed on countless panels and summits. Commitments are being made, big speeches are given. Yet, when it comes to action we are still in a state of denial. The climate and ecological crisis has never once been treated as a crisis. The gap between what we need to do and what’s actually being done is widening by the minute. Effectively, we have lost another two crucial years to political inaction....”
Greta Thunberg (born 2003) first seen 2020 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: After two years of school strikes, the world is still in a state of climate crisis denial, Greta Thunberg, Luisa Neubauer, Anuna De Wever and Adélaïde Charlier, The Guardian (19 Aug 2020)
“We understand the world is complicated and that what we are asking for may not be easy or may seem unrealistic. But it is much more unrealistic to believe that our societies would be able to survive the global heating we’re heading for – as well as other disastrous ecological consequences of today’s business as usual... This mix of ignorance, denial and unawareness is at the very heart of the problem... The only way forward is for society to start treating the crisis like a crisis... We can still avoid the worst consequences. But to do that, we have to face the climate emergency and change our ways. And that is the uncomfortable truth we cannot escape.”
Greta Thunberg (born 2003) first seen 2020 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: After two years of school strikes, the world is still in a state of climate crisis denial, Greta Thunberg, Luisa Neubauer, Anuna De Wever and Adélaïde Charlier, The Guardian (19 Aug 2020)
“Many people, especially in the US, see countries like Sweden or Norway or Finland as role models – we have such a clean energy sector, and so on. That may be true, but we are not role models. Sweden is one of the top 10 countries in the world when it comes to the highest ecological footprints, according to the WWF – if you count the consumer index, then we are among the worst per capita.In Sweden, the most common argument that we shouldn’t act is that we are such a small country with only 10 million inhabitants – we should focus more on helping other countries. That is so incredibly frustrating, because why should we argue about who or what needs to change first? Why not take the leading role?”
Greta Thunberg (born 2003) first seen 2019 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quoted in Emma Brockes "When Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez met Greta Thunberg: 'Hope is contagious'", The Guardian (29 June 2019).
“We have been told that the EU intends to improve its emission reduction targets. In the new target, the EU is proposing to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to 45 percent below 1990’s level by 2030. Some people say that is good or that is ambitious. But this new target is still not enough to keep global warming below 1.5 °C. This target is not sufficient to protect the future for children growing up today. If the EU is to make its fair contribution to staying within the carbon budget for the 2 °C limit, then it means a minimum of 80 percent reduction by 2030 and that includes aviation and shipping. So it is around twice as ambitious as the current proposal.”
Greta Thunberg (born 2003) first seen 2019 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech by Greta Thunberg, climate activist to the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) in Brussels (21 February 2019)