Greta Thunberg Strikes Again: End the Madness of Fossil Industry

(Photo : Reuters)
Thunberg's claims that the corporations are not cooperating on reducing carbon emissions echoes the complaints of millions of other young climate activists all over the world.

A group of youth activists led by Greta Thunberg asked global leaders to abandon the "madness" of the fossil fuel industry.

The group specifically addressed their demand to the political and business leaders who will be attending the World Economic Forum in Davos. Thunberg claimed that the forum is once again "turning into a crime against humanity." 

The climate advocates also expressed their frustrations about how these leaders "let down" the younger generation. They also called out the detractors who accused them of "asking for a lot.''

Fossil fuel combustion, which is the most common method to generate power, is the main source of greenhouse gas emissions. Many scientists already warned about the catastrophe that human-induced climate change will bring to the world by the end of the century. This also leads to multiple international protocols, with the 2015 Paris Agreement as the latest one.

Despite that, global emissions are still rising, and fossil fuel exploration played a role in it. Even after the G20 pledge in 2009, the subsidies for fossil fuels remained high, with at least $5.2 trillion per year, according to the International Monetary Fund.

Thunberg called this move a "disgrace".

Meanwhile, since the Paris Agreement, the world's largest investment banks lend out at least $700 billion to companies aligned in his industry. The investment of private sectors, which is possibly up to trillions of dollars, is still unaccounted. 

In defense, these companies claimed that this is needed to shift to zero emissions, yet the investment for renewable energy is still too little compared to the coal industry.

Climate strikers all over the world are saying the same thing: the corporate world is not willing to be accountable for the climate crisis, and this inaction is what is driving their activism because it "falls on children to do that".

Too demanding?

Despite the stability of market shares, it is reported that at least $12 trillion investment in coal, oil, and gas industry were already diverted to other industries, mostly on faith-based organizations and philanthropic foundations.

However, the climate activists said that it is not enough and that all financial institutions and even the government should completely divest from fossil fuels immediately. 

They also demand that the investment should go on existing sustainable technologies, research, and nature preservation because short-term profit should not be prioritized over the long-term stability of life. 

Mark Carney, the governor of the Bank of England, previously warned that companies and industries that are not investing in zero-carbon emissions would experience that wrath of investors and go bankrupt. 

He also said in December that if the financial sector will not move away from oil and gas companies immediately, their assets could end up "worthless".

The 50th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum will begin on January 20 in Switzerland. It will be discussing four "urgent and important" issues, with addressing climate challenge that affects both the economy and the environment as the first one.

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