Greta Thunberg at Madrid March: Hope in the Streets, Not the U.N. Climate Summit

AMY GOODMAN: Swedish youth activist Greta Thunberg then took the mic.

GRETA THUNBERG: ¡Hola, Madrid! We are in the middle of a climate and ecological emergency, and we need to start treating this crisis like a crisis, and we need to step out of our comfort zones. And that is what we are doing right now. We are stepping out of our comfort zones, telling the people in power that they must take their responsibility and protect future and present generations.

We are here right now today because the COP25 is going on right now. World leaders have gathered here in Madrid to negotiate our future. And I can tell you: The hope is not within the walls of the COP25; the hope is out here with you. They say right now in this march 500,000 people, at least, are participating. It is the people who are the hope. You are the hope. And we need — we need to continue. We need to keep the momentum going. And we need to lend our voices to the people of the Global South and to indigenous people, who are suffering the most from the climate and environmental emergency.

The change we need is not going to come from the people in power as it is now. The change is going to come from the masses, from the people demanding action. And that is us. We are the ones who are going to bring change. The current world leaders are betraying us, and we will not let that happen anymore. We will not let them get away with it anymore. We say, “Enough now. And change is coming, whether you like it or not, because we have no other choice.” Thank you.

AMY GOODMAN: That was 16-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg.