Greta Thunberg tells Australia to 'wake up' to the climate crisis while promoting her new book
Environmental advocate has told Australia to 'wake up' and take action against the 'climate emergency'. The 20-year-old Swedish national recently appeared on the to promote her book titled The Climate Book. During the interview, she was asked for her thoughts on the Labor Party's promise to drastically reduce emissions while still permitting the large-scale export of , including coal and liquified natural gas (LNG). 'It's as simple as wake up and treat the climate emergency as an emergency,' Thunberg said. 'It seems like many people in Australia think: now we have a new government, everything will be fine. 'Of course, that is very far from true. 'As long as we treat the climate crisis as a side topic or as a political issue and do not see it as the emergency it is, as long as we don't connect that crisis to the other interconnected crises and the more time we lose. 'If we keep pretending we can solve this crisis by having a new government, then that's not really realising the full extent of this emergency. We have to keep pushing in every possible way.' Anthony Albanese's Labor government has resolved to cut emissions 43 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030. Part of its plan includes the conversion of coal-fired power plants to clean energy hubs around the country. However, many activists consider that promise hollow because Australia's economy is so reliant on the sale of coal and natural gases. Australia is the world's fifth largest producer of coal, the second largest exporter and has the fourth largest reserves of any country around the globe. In the year to December, 2022, Australian coal exports were valued at $68billion but prices have been predicted to fall with the estimated value in the next year plummeting to $45billion. Thunberg noted 'it's difficult to hold anyone to account' when considering global emissions but suggested Australia should be cutting back coal exports if it's serious about reducing its climate impact. 'Everyone cannot do everything but if you have the opportunity to do something, to stop doing certain things, I think there is a moral obligation to do so,' she said. 'Everyone has the same mindset of sweeping things under the carpet and blaming someone else, that seems to be the universal norm. 'Unless countries like Australia, and my country Sweden too, are able to give that up and actually start taking responsibility, than who are we to expect anyone else to do so?' Thunberg caught the world's attention in 2019 when the then 16-year-old let loose at world leaders during the United Nations Climate Summit in New York for their lax climate policies. In an enraged speech, Thunberg told leaders they are 'failing' younger generations. 'I shouldn't be up here. I should be back in school on the other side of the ocean. Yet you all come to us for hope. How dare you. You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words,' Thunberg said. 'There will not be any solution or plans in line with these figures here today because these numbers are too uncomfortable and you're not mature enough to tell it like it is. 'You are failing us. The young people are starting to understand your betrayal. The eyes of all future generations are upon you. 'And if you choose to fail us, I say, we will never forgive you. She continued: 'Right here, right now is where we draw the line. The world is waking up and change is coming whether you like it or not.' 'You come to us young people for hope. How dare you?' 'You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words, yet I'm one of the lucky ones. People are suffering, people are dying, entire ecosystems are collapsing.' Before her viral speech, Thunberg gained traction for organising the School Strike for Climate which saw students skip school once a week to protest climate change. She started the movement at just 15 years old by skipping school to sit outside the Swedish Parliament in 2018.