Why are there people angry at Greta Thunberg?

When someone doesn’t have the facts on their side, when they don’t have a good counter-argument for points that an opponent is making, they often resort to attacks. The scientific consensus for climate change is nearly unanimous, and the effects of global warming will be most devastating for younger generations who are entering adulthood.

So when someone as young as Greta Thunberg tries to point this out on a larger stage through her activism, in some ways she becomes a convenient target for certain groups of people. That’s not to say that she, or any other activist, is above criticism necessarily, but some people go after her personally to deflect from the very valid concerns she brings up. Attacking aspects of her that are out of her control, such as her youth and disability, is one example.

Thunberg has been attacked and mocked by certain world leaders such as Donald Trump and Jair Bolsonaro. Even when these criticisms are put in more moderate terms, such as when Vladmir Putin claimed she was “poorly informed” and manipulated by those around her, they still don’t directly address anything related to climate change. That she has a sense of humor regarding this, often changing her Twitter profile to make fun of the latest attacks on her, is another possible way she riles people up.

Her message is also not sugar-coated in the least, focusing more on the dire consequences of inaction rather than optimism for the future. She ended her TEDxStockholm speech, for example, by saying “We’ve had 30 years of pep-talking and selling positive ideas. And I’m sorry but it doesn’t work because if it would have, the emissions would have gone down by now. They haven’t.”

While people who deny climate change would likely find any reason to discredit people speaking out about it, it’s no wonder that a young woman who speaks in such terms would face criticism. Regardless of what critics think of her approach, the facts about global warming are undeniable, and the most important thing is to understand the appropriate measures we can take to prevent its worst effects.

Greta Thunberg undoubtedly knows a lot about climate change despite her youth, but none of us need to be experts in the science to take action. If we criticize her or any other activist, it should only be because they genuinely get something wrong or their approach is somehow ineffective. Being realistic about the crisis we face is the only way we can possibly avert it.

[Reference] BBC News
[Reference] Sky News
[Reference] Dagens Nyheter