COMMENT

Greta Thunberg calls on world leaders for honesty at COP26

An interview with climate activist Greta Thunberg on the eve of the COP26 summit published in partnership with Covering Climate Now, a global media collaboration.

Anna Ringstrom

For climate activist Greta Thunberg, success at the upcoming U.N. climate conference would come only if world leaders honestly admit that their action is not living up to their words.

The summit, taking place next month in Glasgow, aims to secure pledges by the world’s nations to limit the global temperature from rising more than 1.5°C above the pre-industrial average.

“We are so, so far behind what would be needed,” the 18-year-old told Reuters in an interview at the kitchen table of her two-bedroom Stockholm apartment on Wednesday evening, after returning home from school.

“Maybe leaders being honest will create a sense of urgency that will make people wake up.”

Greta Thunberg outside the Swedish parliament building in August 2018 Greta Thunberg outside the Swedish parliament building in August 2018
Photo: Anders Hellberg under a Creative Commons license

In just three years since she started skipping school on Fridays to protest alone outside the Swedish parliament, Thunberg has become a global figure, giving voice to her generation’s fury at the world’s failure to tackle a problem known about for decades.

Next month’s COP26 summit is billed as the last big chance for leaders to announce firm targets to cut climate-warming industrial emissions this decade. Thunberg says she will probably go to the conference but expects to be disappointed once again.

She said: “My expectation is that we will hear many, many nice speeches, we will hear many pledges that - if you really look into the details - are more or less meaningless, but they just say them in order to have something to say, in order for media to have something to report about.

“And then I expect things to continue to remain the same. The COPs as they are now will not lead to anything unless there is big, massive pressure from the outside.”

With global temperatures having already risen by 1.1°C, and a UN climate panel warning that climate change is close to spinning out mediaof control, Thunberg discussed the upcoming summit in interviews with Reuters, NBC News and The Nation, co-ordinated through Covering Climate Now, a global media partnership of which Exeter Observer is a member.

Greta Thunberg outside the Berlin Reichstag in September 2021 Greta Thunberg outside the Berlin Reichstag in September 2021
Photo: Stefan Müller under a Creative Commons license

Over the last three years, millions of young people have joined Thunberg’s Fridays for Future movement, skipping school to protest for action against climate change.

Her forthright speeches have put world leaders on notice: “You are failing us. But the young people are starting to understand your betrayal”, she said in a speech at a UN summit in 2019. “The eyes of all future generations are upon you. And if you choose to fail us, I say: We will never forgive you.”

After a year out of class promoting her cause full time, Thunberg is now a student once more, enrolled in her second year of high school.

She has moved from her parents’ home into her first apartment, a borrowed one, shared with a labrador named Roxy and a golden retriever called Moses. Her father, Svante, visits often. Her younger sister and opera-singing mother Malena Ernman are performing these days in Stockholm in a musical about Edith Piaf.

“When you stay grounded, it’s not so hard to come back to normal life again”, said Thunberg. “And I am fortunately in Sweden, where people don’t care so much about famous people. So I’ve been left alone.”

The forthrightness which brought her to global attention is still her trademark. Before the interview, she said her autism - a diagnosis she has referred to in the past as a “superpower” - made her more comfortable looking directly into the camera than towards an interviewer.

Greta Thunberg: “Democracy is the only solution to the climate crisis”

Last month, she mocked world leaders in a speech to youth activists in Milan, saying: “Build back better, blah blah blah, green economy, blah blah blah, net zero by 2050, blah blah blah, climate neutral, blah blah blah.”

“This is all we hear from our so-called leaders. Words. Words that sound great, but so far has led to no action.”

Now, she says she is trying to manage her work with Fridays For Future with her regular school workload. Because of the pandemic, the movement meets mostly online, making it less time consuming.

“I’m trying to be efficient: to do all the homework while I am at school, so that when I go home, I am free to do other things, to work”, she said. “Surprisingly, I manage.”

She has few plans for when she finishes high school in two years, but said she wanted to continue studying “because I like doing that.”

And after school? “I’m sort of procrastinating that. But I guess we’ll see where I end up.”


This story originally appeared on Reuters and is republished here as part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration committed to strengthening coverage of the climate story.

The interview with Greta Thunberg was conducted by Covering Climate Now partners NBC News, Reuters and The Nation.


Democracy doesn't work when people don't know who is deciding what on whose behalf and what the costs and consequences of those decisions will be.

Exeter Observer is proving that reader-funded media can deliver the independent public interest journalism our local democracy needs.

Upgrade to a paid Exeter Observer subscription to support our work and get access to exclusive premium content and more.

More stories
Devon & Cornwall Police deputy chief constable Jim Colwell, previous chief constable Will Kerr and interim chief constable James Vaughan

Devon & Cornwall Police deputy chief constable Jim Colwell receives 18-month misconduct warning

Outcome of Independent Office for Police Conduct investigation delivered day before retirement of suspended chief constable Will Kerr announced, with Police and Crime Commissioner Alison Hernandez unwilling to say whether “golden handshake” agreed.

Newtown active travel scheme map

Newtown active travel scheme approved after four years of public consultations

Joint Devon County Council and Exeter City Council project includes road closure, car parking changes and contraflow Clifton Hill cycle lane.

South West peninsula 2025 spending review road and rail investment map

Dawlish rail resilience, Exeter A379 bridge renewal and Cullompton M5 J28 schemes all shelved after spending review

Government road and rail funding announcement billed as “the biggest boost to England's transport infrastructure in a generation” largely passes Devon and Cornwall by while leaving final phase of South West Rail Resilience Programme undelivered.

Illustrative floor plan of new redevelopment proposals

New Heavitree Road police station student accommodation and “co-living” complex proposals submitted to Exeter City council

Application for full planning permission for 813-room scheme in seven blocks follows decision to reject previously-proposed 955-room scheme in two blocks which was subsequently upheld at appeal.

Change in bus passenger journey numbers 2019-20 to 2023-24 by England local transport area bar chart

National Audit Office finds decline in Devon bus passenger journey numbers among largest in country

Devon journeys down 28% – seventh from bottom across 85 areas – while journeys in Cornwall increased by more than 40%.

Danny Barnes

Danny Barnes received full £15,000 Devon County Council allowance during 2024-25

Heavitree & Whipton Barton councillor failed to sign off £14,600 community grants after attending only two of fifteen public meetings and is alleged to have worked for Scottish Labour MP Imogen Walker since shortly after last year’s general elections.

, updated

On Our Radar
Summer at the Quayside illustration

TUESDAY 29 JULY TO FRIDAY 29 AUGUST 2025

Summer at the Quayside

A month of free family activities including weaving, felting, doodling and drumming.

EXETER QUAY

Spork! summer special

THURSDAY 31 JULY TO THURSDAY 14 AUGUST 2025

Theatre in the Park

Exeter Phoenix hosts an al fresco summer theatre season featuring Shakespeare, spoken-word poetry, puppetry and physical comedy.

ROUGEMONT GARDENS

Exeter quayside farmers market vegetables

SATURDAY 16 AUGUST 2025

Quayside Farmers’ Market

Monthly market offering local produce, hand-made goods, plants, cakes and more.

EXETER QUAY