Greta has pronounced, on several occasions, that the climate crisis is the gravest threat to humanity. She uses this language to shake both political and business leaders out of inaction. One of Greta’s most famous quotes is the following, from her speech ‘As if you loved your children above all else:’
“Our house is still on fire. Your inaction is fueling the flames by the hour. We are still telling you to panic, and to act as if you loved your children above all else.”
Greta’s cause is rooted in two main threats: the immediate danger of today, and the drastically worse dangers of tomorrow if we fail to act in time. With regards to the threat that climate change poses in the present time, Greta has stated that “People are suffering and dying from the climate emergency today.” In terms of the future dangers of climate change, Greta has repeatedly used the imagery of ‘tomorrow’s children’ and the challenges they will face as a direct result of the actions taken in the present time. In Davos, she addressed the World Economic Forum with the question “I wonder, what will you tell your children was the reason to fail and leave them facing the climate chaos you knowingly brought upon them?”