Episode 26: In which I chat with Greta Thunberg about the importance of honesty in the fight for real climate action; her experience of COP26; and other important issues - like how much she loves the Honest Government Ads :P
Episode 26: In which I chat with Greta Thunberg about the importance of honesty in the fight for real climate action; her experience of COP26; and other important issues - like how much she loves the Honest Government Ads :P
This is the podcast companion to our latest Honest Government Ad: Net Zero by 2050
You can also view this podcast on our YouTube channel - which we recommend as it includes our video conversation.
👉 You can follow Greta here: twitter.com/gretathunberg
🔹 Fridays for Future
🔹 School Strike 4 Climate (Australia)
🔹 Here's the UN Petition filed by Greta and 13 other young people.
🔹 Greta’s article about honesty
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Transcript courtesy of Paul Jay, The Analysis
Giordano Nanni
Hey, everyone, this is Giordano from The Juice Media. Welcome back to The Juice Media Podcast, a companion to the Honest Government Ad series. This episode of the podcast is recorded on Wurundjeri Land, and it is the companion to our latest Honest Government Ad about Net-Zero by 2050.
Video excerpt:
"Hello, I'm from the government with an update on how we're handling the climate crisis. We know you're all counting on us to solve this problem so humanity can keep enjoying its favourite pastime: continuing to live on this planet. But you see, we've realized that we are the problem, and so how should we put this? We're actually going to get us all killed."
Giordano Nanni
When I heard Greta Thunberg say that she wanted governments to be honest about the climate crisis, I had something of a mini epiphany. Hey, I make this series called Honest Government Ads. Maybe I can help get her out here.
So I wrote this Honest Government Ad, and I think it might be the most important video we've made to date because it helps people understand the logic by which net-zero by 2050. The solution world leaders have come up with for the climate crisis can actually act as a substitute for honesty, thereby helping to justify catastrophic delays in taking serious climate action.
I also asked Greta if she would make a cameo appearance in the video. To which she said yes.
[Greta Thunberg] "Authorized by the department for blah, blah, blah"
Giordano Nanni
And then it only seemed logical to ask if she would be my guest on the podcast since she had inspired this Honest Government Ad. She said yes to that too, and that is why my guest on the podcast today is Greta Thunberg. Greta needs no introduction, but for those who don't know, at the age of 15, she began striking from school to call for stronger climate action, which went on to inspire millions of young people worldwide to join her in what became the school strike for climate and Fridays for Future movement.
She has kicked world leaders assess, from Davos to New York with her powerful, straight-talking speeches and has become one of the most recognizable people on the planet. Her many awards, including youngest TIME Person of the Year, the Forbes list of the world's 100 most powerful women, and several nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize. All of which has not stopped her from being a beautifully down-to-earth human being who still strikes for school with fellow students every Friday. Greta, who is now 18 and currently completing high school, joins us today from her home in Sweden.
I hope you enjoy our chat, and I'll catch you on the other side.
Welcome to The Juice Media Podcast, Greta. It's an honour to have you here with us today.
Greta Thunberg
Thank you, it's an honour to be here. I'm really a big fan of Juice Media, so it's really exciting.
Giordano Nanni
Look, you beat me to it. I just wanted to say the same thing. We're massive fans of yours, and I just wanted to get that out right at the start so we can get onto the science. But thank you for everything that you're doing, seriously.
Greta Thunberg
Likewise.
Giordano Nanni
Look, I know you're very busy between kicking our world leaders asses and doing all your schoolwork. So thanks for taking the time to be here. First of all, how are you?
Greta Thunberg
I'm good. It's Saturday now, so I'm not free, but at least there's no school, so I can try to catch up on other things right now. It's quite cold today, but it's nice. So I'm good. Just apart from everything that's happening in the COP [United Nations Climate Change Conference] right now, they're just finishing up the drafts. So that's also very interesting to follow, to say the least.
Giordano Nanni
Yes, totally. So very well, apart from our world leaders about to get us all killed, everything is great, apart from that. Let's talk about COP. You've just returned home from this climate summit, which is just wrapping up as we speak. I think it's the final day. Can you give us; what's your review of COP 26? And by the way, just a reminder that you're allowed to swear as much as you want. In fact, it's kind of encouraged on this podcast.
Greta Thunberg
Good. Well, I actually came home almost a week ago, now. I was over there the first week, so I've been able to sort of compress everything and calm down a bit from all the chaos that is over there. I think depending on who you ask how the COP was, you get very different responses. Some people who are afraid to not let people down, they say that COP is; we are making progress, and we are winning slowly. But we must remember that when it comes to the climate crisis, winning slowly is the same thing as losing.
We can't solve the climate crisis with progress. When I talk to people who are there on the ground still, I get completely different responses, that it's a complete disaster and that no one is willing to do anything. It's just behind the curtain, it's just a battle between them to trying to create new loopholes, blocking, and global north countries still refusing to take even the minimum climate action that will be required.
Giordano Nanni
Have you had a look at the draft text that's come out? Have you had a chance to get your eyes onto that?
Greta Thunberg
I tried, yeah. Not the whole, but I read parts of it, but I will try to find it as soon as I can. Like the whole.
Giordano Nanni
It's hard to talk about it exactly now because it's all still happening.
Greta Thunberg
And it will probably change times again.
Giordano Nanni
One of the positive things to come out of it, if we can look on the bright side, is this agreement that countries have to come back yearly now and redefine their NDCs [Nationally Determined Contributions] as opposed to every five years, which is what Paris determined. Is that something that you're happy to have seen?
Greta Thunberg
Of course, it's better than nothing, just that part. But when you look at the whole thing, if you compare it to what would be necessary right now, it's still a complete failure. We cannot believe that we can solve the climate crisis with small steps like that, and promises that they will improve their ambitions won't lead to anything unless they actually do. And unless they actually fulfill those ambitions and the commitments that they announce.
Giordano Nanni
That's such a greater thing. You're always like, yes, words, words. But what about the actions? And you're so good at always bringing it back to that. Let's talk about honesty. When a journalist asked you in the lead up to COP what success would look like for you, you said, I paraphrased. Now you said something like success for me would be for world leaders to be honest about how they're failing to deal with the climate crisis. There is still hope you wrote in an article, but hope all starts with honesty.
It's such a simple yet powerful message. Can you explain why you see honesty as being the first step towards real climate action?
Greta Thunberg
We always talk about solutions to the climate crisis: how we are going to solve it, what steps forward? But how can we even discuss the crisis that we ignore the majority of? As a case study in Sweden, a recent investigation shows that less than a third of our total emissions are actually included in our climate targets. And how can we try to solve a crisis if we ignore two-thirds of it? It's like they say, how are we going to solve this?
And we say, how about counting all the numbers and being honest about where we actually are because we won't be able to solve the crisis that we don't understand. And then when we say that no one understands what we are saying. And then they say, yeah, but what exactly should we do? And we repeat, how about counting all the numbers and being clear where you actually are in order to understand which situation you're facing in order to actually combat it? And no one still understands what we are saying, and that's sort of the key.
We know that the climate crisis will not be solved in these COPs. And if anything, this COP has proved that. That no matter how many activists are there and how much pressure activists outside put on world leaders, they won't change. As long as they can, they will continue this way, trying to only create loopholes in the systems, the frameworks. It's like right now, their main goal is not to solve the climate crisis and to really find ways forward. Their main goal is to still find excuses not to take action.
Giordano Nanni
Your message about honesty is what inspired our Honest Government Ad about net-zero-zero by 2050, to which this podcast acts as a companion. Because when I heard you say that you wanted governments to be honest about how they're failing to deal with the climate emergency, it kind of suddenly dawned on me. Hey, I write this series. It's called Honest Government Ads. Maybe I can lend Greta a hand here and help more people understand what she means. So you were really the inspiration for this video, and you shared the video, and you encouraged people to watch it.
Do you think it helps to explain the situation we're in, and you can be honest? I know you're a fan of honesty.
Greta Thunberg
Yeah, it really does. Those kinds of things are crucial in order to make us both understand the situation and also understand in order to put pressure on the people in power. And that video was really one of the best things I've ever seen. I even got, like, classmates who never talked to me about these things say, oh, I saw that video. That was really great. So it really cut through much of the noise.
Giordano Nanni
That's awesome. And, of course, one of the reasons that it had such cut-through was you made a cameo appearance in it, which blew everyone away because you just popped out of nowhere. Hey, Greta. And you authorized my message at the end. So thank you for taking part in it. I assume you've already seen other videos unless you say yes to random cameo requests. When did you come across the Honest Government Ads? Is it a recent thing?
Greta Thunberg
Yeah. I mean, they're quite a big thing in the climate activism world. We always watch those episodes when there's a new one, and we have, like, telegram channels to people we know, and we always share them there. So it's a thing that we really enjoy watching because it's so honest and it's really hilarious.
Giordano Nanni
Awesome. Great. I'm going to put that on our bio on our website. Okay, now let's talk about dishonesty. I want to ask you a question. You obviously spent a lot of time thinking about the climate crisis and how to define the problem that we're up against. And I wonder if, over the years, your views have changed. In 2019, when you spoke at the U.N. Climate Summit, you gave a historic speech.
[Video excerpt] Greta: "If you really understood the situation and still kept on failing to act, then you would be evil and that I refuse to believe."
Giordano Nanni
Fast forward two years, you're in the streets of Glasgow with thousands of people, and you said to the crowd.
[Video excerpt] Greta: "Many are starting to ask themselves, what will it take for the people in power to wake up? But let's be clear. They are already awake. They know exactly what they are doing."
Giordano Nanni
So, have you changed your mind since you gave that speech in 2019? And if so, what has caused you to do so?
Greta Thunberg
Kind of, I guess. But also, the speech I made in 2019 was also supposed to; I thought I want to look naive now for them to really reflect on what they are doing because I'm not saying that they are evil. I'm saying that if you do these things, that means you are evil, so that makes that they themselves have to make that conclusion.
Of course, I have my suspicions already and that they knew what they were doing. But after having meeting with people constantly for several years talking to people. Now, I really know that they do know the consequences of what they're doing. That's also because they have been spending that time talking to people, learning about what they are doing—the consequences of their actions.
Giordano Nanni
So many times in interviews, I've watched a lot of your interviews, and people often ask you what you think about this or that, as I am also. And you often reply by redirecting the focus away from yourself, reminding everyone that we should be listening to what climate scientists are saying. Listen to the science. I just wonder, when that happens, do you sometimes want to scream? Does it feel like the world has gone bananas when journalists and celebrities are asking a teenager what she thinks about the existential emergency that threatens all life on the planet instead of climate scientists?
Greta Thunberg
I do think that it's very absurd that that question is being asked to a teenager, and also, many other teenagers have been asked the same question. We are doing this because we do not have all the answers, apart from saying that we need to treat the crisis like a crisis and count all the numbers. We give solutions to do, but we cannot expect teenagers to answer that. I mean, just the fact that the question is being asked is absurd, but not as absurd as the fact that that question is being asked to anyone at all.
How should we solve this crisis? If there was an answer to that question, we wouldn't be in this mess. If we could just solve an existential emergency just like that, then it wouldn't be a crisis. It would just be a problem. So I think that's absurd on so many levels.
Giordano Nanni
Helping to amplify the voices of climate scientists is a role that you've taken up, and you played really powerfully and effectively. And to do that, you have to also have your head across the science. Can you share with us some of the main sources for understanding the science on climate? Any recommendations for others who also want to understand more?
Greta Thunberg
Well, it depends. It's really a rabbit hole because I wish it could be just one source where you can read everything, but you have to kind of look up the information yourself. I think we would really need some kind of site, or book, or film, or source, whatever, where you could find the things you need in order to understand the full situation. But I usually rely on the most solid scientific sources like IPCC [Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change] because even though it can be very moderate, sometimes it's still like the golden standard.
And I also talk to scientists. I follow lots of scientists on social media to see what they are saying. How they are commenting on different phenomena and announcements, and so on. But it's really all over there, which is both good because you get your information from different sources, but it also requires a bit of time to locate those sources and see if they are credible or not.
Giordano Nanni
No, totally, so read widely. Just on the point of climate scientists, I often wonder why at climate rallies, we don't have a tradition of just always starting off with a climate scientist. Or at least having a climate scientist that are talking often that's a voice that's absent. And I feel like the work that you do and certainly what we try to do with the Honest Government Ads is to improve people's climate literacy so that they understand what it means when they hear words like carbon capture and storage or net-zero by 2050. So in that sense, we're doing similar work in that regard, but ultimately always pointing back, listen to the science.
Now, as you know, we're based in Australia, and our government here is one of the biggest pieces of shit in the world when it comes to expanding fossil fuels and emitting tons of blah, blah, blah.
Greta Thunberg
Yeah.
Giordano Nanni
Do you follow what's happening climate-wise here in Australia? And if so, what do you have to say to Australians, especially young Australians, many of whom have been wildly inspired by you to take climate action?
Greta Thunberg
Of course, I try to follow the situations in as many places as I can. And I also have Australian friends in the climate movement who tell me stories that I find hard to believe sometimes.
Giordano Nanni
We do, too.
Greta Thunberg
Yeah. If it wasn't so horrible, it would be hilarious. But I think you also need to be able to let yourself laugh at it. As long as you're doing everything you can against it, you have to be able to kind of see the humour in it.
Giordano Nanni
No, totally. And you said you have friends here in Australia. Are they young climate activists in the climate movement?
Greta Thunberg
Yes.
Giordano Nanni
That's awesome, fantastic. Did you want to say hi to anyone?
Greta Thunberg
Yeah. Hi, Louis.
Giordano Nanni
Awesome. Okay, on to a slightly less hilarious question. Many children, now as young as nine, which is the age at which you yourself became aware of the climate crisis, and it sent you into a deep depression. Many kids are experiencing anxiety now about the climate crisis. Have you got anything, if any of them happen to be listening or their parents, have you anything to say to them or to parents? How can parents respond to children who have this kind of response?
Greta Thunberg
I have experienced that, too. So I kind of know how it is. I think for me, what got me out of it was that people around me actually started to listen to what I had to say and my concerns. Because for a long time, it felt like everyone just ignored it and said, don't worry people, they will solve that. They're taking care of it. That just made me more worried because that meant they didn't understand that people were failing us, that the people in power were failing us, and that people had so little knowledge of the problems that we were facing.
So I think if you're a parent, just listen to your child. Take your children seriously when they are talking about this because this is not just something that we make up. It's something that is made up, something that children exaggerate and so on. This is actually the scientific consensus that tells us that this is happening, and if you ignore the children, then you are one of the causes of your child's worrying, unfortunately. So that would be my advice.
And if you're feeling like that, what got me out of it was to, both that people around me were listening to me, but also I started to do things. It started very small, like turning off the lights when I wasn't in the room and cutting down meat consumption, and so on. And then it got more and more. And then, I became a climate activist because taking action is always the best medication against those kinds of things. Just the feeling that you are doing something, that you are a part of something larger, and that what you are doing actually has an impact.
Giordano Nanni
That's really important words, and I have to say that's really why we do what we do as well. I mean, it's partly to help solve the problems, but almost as much just to keep ourselves sane, just to do something because not doing something can really be, as you said, it's the medicine. On a similar topic, I wanted to ask you about the sort of different ways of dealing with climate crisis. Before you came along, the accepted strategy for climate activism was to focus on hope and not to be too pessimistic.
And people would say, don't be too negative because studies show that kind of messaging can turn people away. I personally never really got it. Even as a teenager. To me, it seems so much more comforting to deal with the reality of what we're facing head-on because that means then truly we would do something about it.
But then you came along, and you shifted that mentality by showing how being real and honest about it doesn't turn people away. In fact, it brings millions to take to the streets, and it's engaging and inspiring. Why do you feel this message of speaking honestly about the reality of what we face has resonated so much with people around the world?
Greta Thunberg
As you say, we need hope. And everyone keeps saying we need hope. We need hope in order to act. But I think that we need to redefine hope. As you say, I don't find hope in people telling me that everything will be fine. We are on the right path, or we're making progress when that, in fact, isn't true. I find hope is being honest. Hope is taking action and facing reality as it is. Even though it may be very uncomfortable and scary, sometimes the only way forward to tackle the situation is if we understand it. If we are being honest about it. If we face it as it is because only then we will be able to do something about it.
Giordano Nanni
Totally. But the fact that it has resonated so strongly does it tell you that perhaps this is how a lot of people feel? Also, it's just that—
Greta Thunberg
Yea.
Giordano Nanni
It was waiting for a spark to kind of, and then people are like, thank fuck. Now we can actually talk about it honestly.
Greta Thunberg
Yeah, I think so. I hope so, at least.
Giordano Nanni
It'll be for anthropologists to decide one day.
Greta Thunberg
Yeah, but I think if there's a child standing in the middle of a road and cars coming towards that child at full speed, then you don't look away because it's too uncomfortable. Then you run out and rescue that child. And I think that's kind of the challenge that we are facing now. Of course, you just want to stand on the side and watch because that's more comfortable, but when there's an emergency, we can react. We can have an emergency response.
Just look at, for example, how we did with the Corona pandemic. We say that during the Corona pandemic, we didn't just say, oh, no, it's too uncomfortable. We actually went out and did something. The thing that made us act wasn't the fact that we inspired each other and said, oh, it's so cozy to stay indoors and not meet people or hopeful stories about people who had coronavirus and then survived. But what got us to act was rather the fact that we had to act. It was some kind of fear of what would happen if we didn't react because we would be hit then personally. Whether it would be ourselves, losing our jobs, or someone we love to be sick or even die.
I mean, those kinds of fears were very valid and made us act. And I think that shows that it cannot only be inspirational talks that make us act during the climate crisis, but we will also need to realize what will happen if we don't do anything.
Giordano Nanni
Alongside honesty, one of the key messages that you've been talking about and focusing on is democracy. In a recent interview, you said democracy is the only solution to the climate crisis. Can you talk a bit about democracy and why you see it as being so intimately connected to real climate action?
Greta Thunberg
Yeah, we can see that what has gotten us to move, even if it's very far from being enough. We have still made some progress compared to a few years ago, and that has been because there have been big marches, people pushing, using their power as Democratic citizens in order to push politicians forward. And if we didn't have that, then I don't know where we would be right now. So that shows that that is the only way forward.
We know that as long as people in power get away with not doing anything, they will continue to do whatever they're doing: expand fossil fuel infrastructure, continue subsidizing fossil fuels, etcetera. But if we use our power that we have in democracies and really push for change, then that can change because in a democratic society, people are the ones who have the power and that I find extremely hopeful.
If we didn't have that possibility, that opportunity, I don't know what we would do. I don't know where we would be. And we can also see that in countries where people don't have these rights, as for example, China, their activists are facing lots of difficulties, and they don't have these big movements that can push in the right direction. So that is really the only way forward.
And it seems that some people use that against climate activists. They say that we don't want democracy, that we want some kind of eco dictatorship, which couldn't be more wrong. But that's because they don't have any more arguments. So they just make up things about us even though that's the exact opposite of what we are saying.
Giordano Nanni
There's an incredible amount of things that have been made up about you. I don't even want to give them oxygen. So we won't go there, but it's insane. Another thing that you've often spoken about is equity. When you talk about the climate crisis, you mentioned the concept of equity. And I was wondering if you could explain for people listening: what do you mean by equity in the context of climate action?
Greta Thunberg
I mean, we must remember that the climate crisis is an accumulative crisis. The carbon that we emit into the atmosphere stays up there for a very long time. And so, the climate crisis is not just about what we are emitting now or what we emit in the future. In order for us to have a 66% chance, approximately, of staying below 1.5 degrees [Celsius], about almost 90% of that CO2 budget has already been used up. So that means that historic emissions make up about almost 90% of the climate crisis, nine-tenths.
And we can't just ignore that fact. We cannot ignore that the climate crisis was created. It started when we started to exploit other people and steal other people's lands and resources. And the climate crisis doesn't just exist in a vacuum.
So equity and climate justice need to be at the heart of any solution because if we are to distribute the remaining CO2 budgets, it needs to be in a way that countries who have emitted more will inevitably get a smaller slice of that remaining CO2 budget. And countries who have emitted less and also, on another note, are being hit hardest. They will have to need a very bigger portion of that CO2 budget.
Both in order for them to adapt to the climate crisis, but also especially to be able to raise living standards by building some of the infrastructure that we, in the so-called global north, already have built. Because we built that to a large extent by burning fossil fuels, so that is already— we have already taken account for that and for some countries they need to do that in the future. And of course, we need to make sure that they can do it in the right way. In a sustainable way, but still, it needs to be done.
They need to be able to raise their living standard because who am I to tell people in the most affected areas that they can't raise their living standards because they can't live like I do because we have a climate crisis, which my part of the world has created, and that is affecting them. And of course, the big question of climate finance, loss and damage, which that money; it was promised that it would be a yearly payment of $100 billion to the most vulnerable countries and to those who have done the least. But that still hasn't been delivered. And that's a big issue, especially during this COP. It's really become a big discussion, which is good. It needs to get more focus. But that is some of them, I'm sure I have forgotten many aspects now, but climate equity is at the very heart of the Paris Agreements.
And that is also a big reason as to why the Paris Agreement is at risk right now. Because if countries like mine like Sweden or yours, Australia, if we can't even do these things, we who have the best opportunities to do that, the best possibilities to do that. If we can't even do that, how can we expect people and countries in the most affected areas to take us seriously and to fulfill their commitments to the Paris Agreement?
So there's a really big gap here, and it only shows that if we ignore the aspect of equity, people will get angry. Especially those who are being affected already today. They will get angry, and then everything is at risk. So that just shows the importance of cooperation.
Giordano Nanni
Totally. It makes it all so complicated, but at the same time, this is the just way to approach it.
Greta Thunberg
It's the only way.
Giordano Nanni
You mentioned colonialism while you were talking about that, and I noticed that you've often helped to amplify the voices of Indigenous people in your activism. When you are in North America, you visited Standing Rock, and I was wondering if you could speak a little bit about how did you learn about Indigenous people's role in helping to deal with the climate crisis and how do you see it?
Greta Thunberg
I think that was something that I learned on the way because it's not being talked about. It's not being focused on in the mainstream media, or people aren't really discussing that on a general level. So it was after talking to many people and being a part of the climate movement being in it that I realized the importance of Indigenous peoples and Indigenous knowledge.
And that just shows how we have failed to communicate that. To communicate both how Indigenous peoples are at the front line of the climate emergency. They are the ones who are bearing the brunt of it. Already now being hit hardest and first, very often. For example, pipelines are being built on Indigenous land, but also that they are leading the fight against the climate emergency.
Just as an example, the Indigenous peoples in the Amazon who are defending the rainforests, but also in every part of the world Indigenous peoples are defending their land. Not only for their sake but for everyone's sake. For the whole planet's sake. And that's not being communicated that Indigenous people are the ones who are actually leading the climate fights.
But also, when we adapt solutions to the climate crisis, if that doesn't include Indigenous people, if that doesn't include Indigenous knowledge, then it's not really a solution because Indigenous peoples are preserving about 80% of the remaining healthy ecosystems. No, 80% of the remaining biodiversity. So that shows that Indigenous knowledge is crucial to preserve the planet and to protect present and future living conditions.
Giordano Nanni
Greta, you're by far one of the most famous climate leaders in the world, but there are other young climate activists around the world in all continents. Are there some who you would like to mention in particular for the work that you're doing? Some who inspire you, particularly?
Greta Thunberg
Of course, I would like to mention every single one. It feels like If I would mention some, then it wouldn't be fair to everyone.
Giordano Nanni
Yeah, that's an unfair question, sorry.
Greta Thunberg
Yeah, but the community that we have it's so strong, and there are so many people who need to be acknowledged. So many people whose voices need to be amplified. So many people who need a much bigger platform because they have so much important things to say. Especially people from the most affected areas, so-called MAPA, most affected people in areas, and Indigenous Peoples, as we talked about because they are the ones who really need a microphone.
And I think it's time for activists in the least affected areas to pass over the mic, so-called LAPA; least affected people in areas, and MAPA; most affected people in areas.
Giordano Nanni
Do you all have, like, a single chat group where you communicate together? Are you in touch and sort of have a community that you're part of?
Greta Thunberg
Yeah, definitely. We have daily contacts through lots of chats. Lots of like, working group chats, but also lots of spam chats where we write literal nonsense, which is important to remain sane, I guess.
Giordano Nanni
Yes, totally. That's awesome. I'm going to let you go because I know you've got things to do, and I just wanted to end off with; I just wanted to ask you about the U.N. court case. You and 13 other young people from around the world are filing a lawsuit to the U.N. urging them to declare a level three emergency. Level three is the highest level of emergency, which is what the U.N. declared for the Covid pandemic. Can you talk a little bit about that case and what it means for you?
Greta Thunberg
First of all, it's above all other people who have been pushing for this. And I'm just one of many people, but it's sort of to bring the attention to the fact that this is actually an emergency. And unless we treated us an emergency, we won't be able to get anywhere. So it's mainly to bring attention to that fact and also the hypocrisy that we say it's an emergency, but we are not acting like it.
Giordano Nanni
Greta, just out of curiosity, is there a question that you wish you got asked in interviews, but you never get asked?
Greta Thunberg
I don't know.
Giordano Nanni
Okay.
Greta Thunberg
I'm sure there are many.
Giordano Nanni
But is there something that you go, why don't you ask me about this? And nobody ever does?
Greta Thunberg
No, I don't know. I'm sure there are many, but I can't come to think of anything now.
Giordano Nanni
Sure, you probably get asked everything. I just want to thank you so much for joining us on The Juice Media Podcast. I know you have a lot to do between kicking ass and all your schoolwork. By the way, you're in the last year of school now, is that correct?
Greta Thunberg
No, I mean, the second [last] year of high school. I have one more year after this.
Giordano Nanni
Okay, got you.
Greta Thunberg
So I still have time to decide what I want to do after I graduate.
Giordano Nanni
Have you thought about that, or is that still something?
Greta Thunberg
Well, all of it, yes. But I'm confused. I'm lost. I don't know.
Giordano Nanni
Which sounds completely normal. I think we've all been there. So enjoy that feeling. Once again, Greta, thank you for all you're doing on behalf of me and our team: Lucy, our actors, Zoey and Ellen, and our two little boys, Juno and Luca, for whom you're doing so much. And all of our patrons who support our work just wanted to say thank you. We love you. Thank you for keeping the path that's honest. And we're with you all the way.
Greta Thunberg
Thank you for having me as well. And I also want to send regards, hello and thank you from everyone in the climate movement, especially the Moose cult.
Giordano Nanni
Thank you very much.
Greta Thunberg
Thank you.
Giordano Nanni
Thank you, Greta. You too.
Well, that brings us to the end of this episode of The Juice Media Podcast. I hope you enjoyed hearing Greta speak. It's strange, but I'm sure some of you feel it too. It's as if we've always known each other, probably because she has been such a presence and inspiration in our lives for the past three years. Certainly for us here at The Juice Media, and I'm sure for many of you, too. And definitely for your teenage kids.
As I said at the start, I wrote this Honest Government Ad to support Greta's call for governments to be honest about the climate crisis. But I also made it because I suspect that world leaders weren't going to fulfill her request.
And so, on a personal level, I just wanted to do something to make her happy. And I know that's silly because it's just a fucking video. But also, I think there's a certain power in mimicking the world that we want to see because if we can help people imagine what honesty looks like, we can help them see the difference between that and the blah, blah, blah, as Greta calls it.
Thanks to Ellen for helping me to edit The Juice Media Podcast. And as always, thank you to our patrons who make the podcast and the Honest Government Ads possible. Especially our Patreon producers who support us by our highest tier of $100 a month. Thank you. If you value our work, please consider supporting us on Patreon at Patreon.com/TheJuiceMedia. And if you enjoyed the podcast, please give us a nice rating on iTunes and recommend it to your friends, family, and pets so that we can spread the word.
You've been listening to The Juice Media Podcast with me, Giordano. I'll catch you very soon for our next Honest Government Ad. Until then, take care.
Ellen
Thanks, Greta. Thank you for fighting for the world and for future generations. And I'm sorry you have to do it…
Greta Thunberg
It can be fun sometimes, too.
Ellen
That's good to hear.
Transcript courtesy of Paul Jay, The Analysis