Greta Thunberg’s visit to Alberta has led to plenty of both excitement and criticism. I don’t know about you, but I’m just tickled pink to have one more person lecture me about climate change. I’m sure we’re just a few days or weeks away from an international agreement to finally take concrete measures against climate change and it will all be thanks to a teenager scolding us.
Greta Thunberg™ is best understood as a marketing campaign, not a teenager who just happens to be travelling the world speaking at public events and meeting with leaders such as Justin Trudeau. Thunberg’s parents are both committed climate activists and her mother, Malena, is a singer who represented Sweden at Eurovision 2009. Her 14-year-old sister is a singer as well. Her father, Svante, is an actor. The family definitely enjoys attention and public performance and Greta is just following the family tradition.
Thunberg’s childhood is over, but it was not stolen. She grew up comfortably in one of the world’s most livable and prosperous countries, Sweden. Thunberg is the face and brand of an organization. Her photo was published on a Facebook page managed by a marketing specialist and climate think tank chairman named Ingmar Rentzhog on the first day of her climate strike. Thunberg has been seen being advised by Luisa-Marie Neubauer, a volunteer for ONE Campaign, an organization run by Bono and Bill Gates.
It’s clear she is a well-intentioned puppet, but at least she will probably get a career out of it. Thunberg is travelling around North America, avoiding air travel and instead chose to sail from Europe. She wants governments in developed countries to begin cutting their emissions by 15 per cent each year. On Sept. 20, Thunberg led the largest ever climate strike, joining an estimated four million people around the world.
I’m very skeptical Great Thunberg™ will persuade the world’s governments to act on her demands and save the world. I think she will do her thing and then fade away just like any other campaign. The world is showing no sign of coming to reality with and taking serious action on climate change, and one more corporate product isn’t likely to change that. Thunberg isn’t a saviour or a hero, she’s a teenage girl with Asperger’s syndrome being paraded around the world for a cause.
