Not much more than a year ago, no one had heard of 15-year-old Greta Thunberg, a Swedish high school student concerned that her government was not doing enough to curb carbon emissions.
In August of this year, this courageous young woman sailed across the Atlantic in a carbon-neutral boat to speak at the U.N. Climate Action Summit on September 23rd. Her speech to world leaders, delegates and government officials was a passionate and direct message to the titans of our planet to individually and collectively take action to slow down the heating of Earth.
Recently nominated as one of the “Women Changing the World 2019”, Greta has inspired, not just her teenage generation, but many who have felt that a single voice would not be heard when speaking up about issues they believe in. Following Greta’s lead, just days before the U.N. speech, an estimated 6 million people in 150 countries participated in the Climate March. Greta reminds all of us that individuals can make a difference and that our world would not be as great as it is without the sacrifices made by the likes of Coretta Scott King, Marie Curie and Jane Goodall to name a few.
Greta is an optimist and she has high hopes that her activism, her courage and her example will pave the road for world leaders to work together to address climate change for the current and future generations.