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  • Welcome to The Daily Show.

  • -Thank you so much. -And welcome to New York City.

  • You came here on a zero-emissions boat,

  • and part of me thinks that's because you love the climate;

  • the other part of me wonders

  • if that's just your Viking heritage.

  • -(laughter) -Maybe it is.

  • -It might be? -Yeah.

  • Tell me why you did that.

  • Why didn't you fly to New York City

  • to come and, you know, speak at the U.N. and-and, you know,

  • inspire people to move forward in the climate change movement?

  • I did it because I have, since a few years,

  • stopped flying because of the enormous impact

  • aviation has on the climate, uh, individually.

  • And, um, just to make a stand.

  • And, uh, I am one of the very few people in the world

  • who can actually do such a trip,

  • so I thought, why not?

  • Wow.

  • (applause, cheering)

  • Wow. I, uh...

  • I mean, I know I wouldn't do that as a kid,

  • -and I wouldn't do it now. Um... -(laughter)

  • But what-what is inspiring is your determination,

  • and what's inspiring is that it doesn't just affect

  • other young people.

  • It started to effect older generations

  • in Sweden, in Germany.

  • People are starting to call it "The Greta Effect,"

  • where people are taking more trains--

  • since you started this movement--

  • they've said they feel ashamed

  • to fly unnecessarily in Europe.

  • Your mom is an opera singer and she stopped flying,

  • which means she couldn't perform the way she used to.

  • Do you sometimes feel bad that she can't perform,

  • or are you more excited that she's not part of,

  • I guess, polluting the planet?

  • I don't care, honestly, about how she performs.

  • -She... -(laughter)

  • She...

  • (laughter and applause)

  • She's... She's doing musicals now,

  • so, I mean, she had to change career,

  • but it wasn't that big.

  • (laughter)

  • And the planet is the most important thing for you.

  • Yeah. I mean, for all of us, I think it should be.

  • Why...

  • (applause)

  • Why do you think...

  • Why do you think young people

  • are so focused on climate change now?

  • There's a definite, uh, disconnect

  • between older generations and younger generations

  • when talking about the climate.

  • Why do think that is?

  • I mean, I think it is because we, in a way,

  • feel like it is more a direct threat.

  • Others feel like,

  • "I won't be alive then, anyway, so screw it."

  • But we... But we, we actually know

  • that these consequences

  • will face us during our lifetime,

  • and it is already happening now.

  • And it will get worse.

  • And, uh, so I think that is why

  • so many young people, especially, care about this.

  • And, uh, and, of course,

  • the awareness is not as it needs to be,

  • it's not as much as it needs to be.

  • People are still very unaware, it's my experience.

  • And, uh, so we need to continue,

  • but you can see that among young people

  • the concern is bigger.

  • What do you think people need to learn about climate change?

  • Many people have heard of the climate warming up.

  • Some people have a small understanding of what it means,

  • but what do you think is lacking

  • in the understanding of this issue?

  • I think pretty much everything because, I mean,

  • we know that something is wrong, that the planet is warming

  • because of increased greenhouse gas emissions,

  • and that might lead to--

  • that the ice caps will melt,

  • and the global temperature will rise,

  • and there will be more extreme weather events and so on.

  • But they-they don't understand

  • how severe this crisis actually is,

  • and it is because they have not been informed.

  • Um, I mean, we are right now in the beginning

  • of the sixth max-- mass extinction,

  • and, uh, people don't know these things.

  • Up to 200 species go extinct

  • every single day,

  • and, uh, people don't even know

  • that we have...

  • For a 67% chance of limiting

  • the global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees,

  • we had, on January 1, 2018,

  • 420 gigatons of carbon dioxide left to emit

  • to stay within that target,

  • and now we're already down to less than 360.

  • If we continue at the same emission level as now,

  • we have less than eight and a half years

  • until that budget is gone

  • according to the IPCC from the SR15 report.

  • And that is for a 67% chance.

  • Wow.

  • And, um...

  • Wow. 67% chance,

  • and we're not even hitting those targets.

  • What do you think people could do,

  • and what do you think governments should be doing?

  • I think people should do... should do everything,

  • but I think right now,

  • if I were to choose one thing everyone would do,

  • it would be to... to inform yourself

  • and to try to understand the situation

  • and try to-to push for a political movement

  • that doesn't exist

  • because the politics needed to... to fix this

  • -doesn't exist today. -Mm-hmm.

  • Um, so, I think what we should do as individuals

  • is to use the power of democracy that...

  • to make our voices heard

  • and to make sure that... that the people in power

  • actually cannot continue to ignore this.

  • That's powerful.

  • -(cheering and applause) -Wow.

  • Do you...

  • Do you feel a difference in the conversation

  • traveling from Sweden

  • to, um, America?

  • Is-is there a different feeling around climate change?

  • Uh, I would say yes.

  • Um, because, here, it's...

  • it feels like it is being discussed as something you--

  • whether you believe in or not believe in.

  • -(chuckling, applause) -And, uh...

  • where I come from,

  • where I come from, it's more like...

  • it's a fact.

  • -And... -(cheering and applause)

  • So then I-I have to ask you this.

  • You sail from Europe to New York City.

  • Um... New York City is, um,

  • quite an assault on the senses,

  • um, when you come from anywhere else.

  • What is the biggest thing that has stuck out to you

  • in New York City?

  • Uh, I mean, just everything.

  • All the impressions.

  • Everything is so much, so big, so loud.

  • -And, uh... -(laughter)

  • people talk so loud here as well.

  • And, uh, because--

  • when you are on that boat,

  • when I was on that boat,

  • there is nothing.

  • There's just the ocean

  • and, uh, of course, the sound of the waves crashing.

  • -But that's it. -Mm-hmm.

  • No-no smells.

  • (laughter)

  • -A-Apart from sweat, but... -(chuckles) Right.

  • So, I remember the first thing I noticed

  • when I... when I-- when we came into the harbor

  • was I woke up and, suddenly,

  • it smelled something.

  • And, of course, it-it was pollution.

  • But it's still something.

  • And that...

  • and that was...

  • It was i...

  • -undescribable, to... -(laughter)

  • to-to go from this extreme environment.

  • -You're disconnected from everything and everyone. -Right.

  • You only have yourself and the ocean

  • and the boat, of course,

  • um, to New York.

  • That is a-an accurate and brilliant description

  • of New York.

  • It is undescribable and it smells.

  • (laughter, applause)

  • -Yeah. -I think that is fantastic.

  • -(cheering and applause) -I'm excited for your journey.

  • I can't wait to see what else you're gonna do.

  • -Thank you for making time for us. -Thank you.

  • The next global climate strike will be on Friday, September 20.

  • To find or register your local strike,

  • go to FridaysForFuture.org.

  • Greta Thunberg, everybody.

Welcome to The Daily Show.

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