Greta calls 2020 'year of action' against climate change
Last updated on: 13 December,2019 09:37 pm
Greta Thunberg urged young people in Italy to seize the next decade to fight climate change
TURIN (AFP) - Environmental activist Greta Thunberg urged young people in Italy on Friday to seize the next decade to fight climate change, and chastised world leaders for acting "as if there is no tomorrow".
The Swedish 16-year-old -- who this week was named Time magazine’s 2019 Person of the Year -- reminded young activists at the "Fridays for Future" rally in the northern Italian city of Turin to make 2020 a "year of action".
"In less than three weeks we will move into a new decade and... I cannot say enough how important this decade will be," said Thunberg, bundled up against the cold in a yellow rain slicker.
"This is a decade that will define our future."
Thunberg slammed world leaders currently attending the UN Climate Change Conference in Madrid, saying they were "still trying to run away from their responsibilities".
"It is not fair that the old generations are handing over the responsibility to solve this crisis to the young people who have not started this crisis. It is not fair that we have to do all this," she said.