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Greta Thunberg criticised COP31 hosts for using climate negotiations to whitewash their environmental records. Her return amplified youth demands for accountability, climate financing and tangible action.
Greta Thunberg calls COP31 'hypocritical'. (File Photo: Reuters)
Climate activist Greta Thunberg on Tuesday criticised the annual UN climate negotiations as "hypocritical", accusing host countries of using the global platform to whitewash their environmental records and urging world leaders to prioritise people and the planet over profits and geopolitical power.
Thunberg made the remarks upon arriving at the COP31 climate conference in Turkey's resort city of Antalya, where negotiations are taking place against the backdrop of deadly climate-related disasters, including heat waves and floods, and an energy crisis triggered by the Iran war.
"It's a hypocrisy every year that the host countries are given an opportunity to whitewash themselves," she said, alleging that the negotiations were influenced by lobbyists representing industries responsible for environmental destruction.
"Our political and economic systems have become incompatible with human nature," she added.
Thunberg warned that climate change was "threatening everything", saying the future of people and the planet was at stake.
"We should act to protect and benefit people rather than constantly sacrificing the global majority and the very planet we are all living on, for a fortunate few to keep making unimaginable profits and maintaining geopolitical power," she said.
COP31 HOSTS FACE FOSSIL FUEL SCRUTINY
The conference is being co-hosted by Turkey and Australia, both of which are promoting renewable energy and rooftop solar installations but continue to depend heavily on fossil fuels, particularly coal, for electricity generation.
Previous COP hosts, including Brazil, the United Arab Emirates and Azerbaijan, have also faced scrutiny over their reliance on fossil fuels and oil production.
A key priority for Turkey at COP31 is global electrification, involving a shift in transportation, buildings and heavy industries away from fossil fuels towards electricity.
Ankara wants electricity to account for 35 per cent of global energy consumption by 2035, compared with around 23 per cent currently, preferably through renewable sources such as solar and wind.
Thunberg acknowledged the importance of progress on renewable energy but said the urgency of the climate crisis required every possible positive development to be pursued.
"We have to take the victories we have, of course, because we are so desperate in this situation that we have to take all the positive signs we can get to save as much as we can still save," she said.
YOUNG CLIMATE ACTIVISTS WELCOME THUNBERG
Thunberg's arrival generated excitement among young climate activists attending the conference, with several expressing hope that her presence would increase pressure on world leaders to deliver concrete action.
Amber Turner, a 26-year-old fellow with the Alliance of Small Island States, said she hoped Thunberg's participation would remind activists why they began their campaign for climate action.
"In this time of heightened geopolitical tensions, I hope that Greta's presence here reminds us of why we started this work in the first place: to push for meaningful change, hold decision-makers accountable, and work towards a better future for all of humanity," Turner said.
Youth protesters at the summit have also demanded greater climate financing and criticised growing interest in nuclear energy.
Kamori Osthananda, a youth negotiator with Thailand's COP delegation, described Thunberg's presence as symbolic, expressing hope that it would put pressure on the conference to deliver tangible results.
Qiyun Woo, a youth environmentalist from Singapore, said Thunberg's participation strengthened the demands of a generation that would inherit the consequences of decisions taken at the negotiations.
THUNBERG RETURNS TO COP AFTER FIVE YEARS
This is Thunberg's first appearance at a UN climate summit since COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland, in 2021, where she famously dismissed world leaders' climate commitments as "blah, blah, blah".
She rose to global prominence in 2018 at the age of 15, when she began a solitary school strike outside the Swedish Parliament to demand stronger climate action. Her campaign subsequently inspired a global youth climate movement.
In 2022, she published "The Climate Book", outlining the causes of the climate crisis and possible solutions.
Beyond climate activism, Thunberg has supported several other causes, including the Free Palestine movement. She was arrested in London last year while supporting hunger-striking pro-Palestinian activists and also joined protests in Georgia in 2024 against Azerbaijan hosting COP29.
The COP31 negotiations in Antalya are scheduled to continue until November 20. Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa, is set to host COP32 in November 2027.
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