Everything Quotes

Some people say that the climate crisis is something that we will have created, but that is not true, because if everyone is guilty then no one is to blame. And someone is to blame.

To do your best is no longer good enough. We now have to do the seemingly impossible.

People are underestimating the force of angry kids.

It is our future on the line, and we must at least have a say in it.

The symbolism of the climate strike is that if you adults don't give a damn about my future, I won't either.

By stopping flying, you don't only reduce your own carbon footprint but also that sends a signal to other people around you that the climate crisis is a real thing and that helps push a political movement.

For 25 years countless people have come to the U.N. climate conferences begging our world leaders to stop emissions and clearly that has not worked as emissions are continuing to rise. So I will not beg the world leaders to care for our future. I will instead let them know change is coming whether they like it or not.

If there really was a crisis, and if this crisis was caused by our emissions, you would at least see some signs. Not just flooded cities, tens of thousands of dead people, and whole nations leveled to piles of torn down buildings. You would see some restrictions. But no. And no one talks about it.

When I was maybe eight or nine years old, I first learned about the climate crisis in school. My teachers taught me about it and we saw films and pictures of plastic in the ocean and extreme weather events. Those pictures were just stuck in my head; I thought, there is no point in anything.

People are unaware of what is going on. When I talk to people, they know the basics, they know the planet is warming because of greenhouse gases... but they don't know the actual consequence of that.

We can't just choose to tell some facts and not others because we don't want to upset people. We have to tell it like it is.

Some people can just let things go, but I can't, especially if there's something that worries me or makes me sad.

I'm very weak in a sense. I'm very tiny and I am very emotional, and that is not something people usually associate with strength.

So when I speak in front of thousands, tens of thousands of people, I don't really get nervous because I know what I want to say and I know what message I want to give.

I remember when I was younger, and in school, our teachers showed us films of plastic in the ocean, starving polar bears and so on. I cried through all the movies. My classmates were concerned when they watched the film, but when it stopped, they started thinking about other things. I couldn't do that. Those pictures were stuck in my head.

Many people seem to have this double moral. They say one thing and then do another thing. They say that the climate crisis is very important and yet they do nothing about it.

Many people, especially in the U.S., 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.

I write all of my own speeches.

I really miss having a routine because now I've been on the road constantly for several months. I like routines, so it would be nice to get those routines back.

We have to understand what the older generation has dealt to us, what mess they have created that we have to clean up and live with.

The best thing about my protest has been to see how more and more people have been coming and getting involved.

When I was 11 I became very depressed. It had a lot to do with the climate and ecological crisis. I thought everything was just so wrong and nothing was happening and there's no point in anything.

I don't fly because of the enormous climate impact of aviation per person.

I don't easily fall for lies, I can see through things.

At first when I heard about climate change, I was a climate denier. I didn't think it was happening. Because if there really was an existential crisis like that, that would threaten our civilisation, we wouldn't be focusing on anything else. That would be our first priority. So I didn't understand how that added up.

At places like Davos, people like to tell success stories. But their financial success has come with an unthinkable price tag. And on climate change, we have to acknowledge we have failed.

I don't think I would be interested in the climate at all if I had been like everyone else.

Sometimes it's Tune-berg, sometimes Thunn-berg. I mean, I think it's funny that everyone pronounces it differently. So, that is just - I don't mind anyone pronouncing it wrong. There's no wrong way to pronounce it. Everyone pronounces it in their own way.

I have always been that girl in the back who doesn't say anything.

Of course, individual change doesn't make much difference in a holistic picture... but we need both systemic change and individual change.

Learning about climate change triggered my depression in the first place. But it was also what got me out of my depression, because there were things I could do to improve the situation. I don't have time to be depressed anymore.

Social media can be very effective in creating movements. In the beginning, that is how I first got attention.

I just want to be just as everyone else. I want to educate myself and be just like a normal teenager.

There's always going to be people who don't understand or accept the united science, and I will just ignore them, as I'm only acting and communicating on the science.

Avoiding climate breakdown will require cathedral thinking. We must lay the foundation while we may not know exactly how to build the ceiling.

I personally have stopped flying. I have stopped eating meat and dairy.

I think that once you fully understand the climate and ecological emergencies, then you know what you can do as well. And, of course, there's a lot of things you can do in your everyday life, but we cannot be focusing on these individual things you can do. We have to see the full picture.

If burning fossil fuels was so bad that it threatened our very existence, how could we just continue like before? Why were there no restrictions? Why wasn't it made illegal? To me, that did not add up.

I do not see myself as a celebrity or an icon or things like that... I have not really done anything.

People tell me that they are so hopeful when they see me and other children 'school-striking,' and they say, 'Oh the children are going to save us.' But no, we aren't. We are too young to be able to do that. We don't have time to wait for us to grow up and fix this in the future.

I don't care about age. Nor do I care about those who do not accept the science. I don't have as much experience, and therefore I listen more. But I also have the right to express my opinion, no matter my age.

It is hard sometimes to always be at the centre of attention, but when you talk about me you also have to talk about the climate.

I don't use any animal products, both because of ethical and environmental and climate reasons.

The most common criticism I get is that I'm being manipulated and you shouldn't use children in political ways, because that is abuse, and I can't think for myself and so on. And I think that is so annoying! I'm also allowed to have a say - why shouldn't I be able to form my own opinion and try to change people's minds?

Many people say that this is not an easy issue, we cannot just say that this is how it is, it's not black and white. But I say that this is black and white. Either we stop the emissions or we don't. There are no gray areas when it comes to survival.

We are not going to be satisfied by politicians saying 'we support you' and then walking away. We won't be satisfied until they meet our demands and act. That's why simply taking a selfie or posting support on Twitter isn't enough. That's why we have to keep striking.

When I have been travelling around to speak in different countries, I am always offered help to write about the specific climate policies in specific countries. But that is not really necessary. Because the basic problem is the same everywhere.

Many people listen to what I have to say and I appear a lot in media, so therefore I influence a lot of people and therefore I have a bigger responsibility because I have a bigger platform.

It felt like I was the only one who cared about the climate and the ecological crisis. My parents didn't care about it, my classmates didn't care about it, my relatives didn't care about this. I mean nobody I knew cared about this and I felt like I was the only one.

I refuse to join any club that would have me as a member.