The world’s most influential climate activist confronted the man in charge of regulating global energy in Davos on Thursday, demanding an end to investments in fossil fuels.
Greta Thunberg urged IEA (International Energy Agency) Executive Director Fatih Birol to stop the global energy industry and the financiers that support it from boosting carbon investments.
“As long as they can get away with it, they’ll keep investing in fossil fuels, they’ll keep throwing people under the bus,” warned Thunberg.
During a roundtable with Birol on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting, activists said they had submitted a “cease and desist” letter to CEOs asking them to stop opening new oil, gas and coal extraction sites.
The oil and gas industry, accused by activists of hijacking the climate change debate at the Swiss ski resort, has said it needs to be part of the energy transition as fossil fuels will continue to play an important role in the energy fabric as the world is moving towards a low-carbon economy.
Thunberg joined activists Helena Gualinga from Ecuador, Vanessa Nakate from Uganda and Luisa Neubauer from Germany to discuss addressing the big issues with Birol.
Birol thanked activists for meeting him, but insisted the transition must include a mix of stakeholders, especially in the face of the global energy security crisis caused by the Ukraine War.
But he conceded that the transition is not happening fast enough and warned that emerging and developing countries risk being left behind if advanced economies do not support the transition.
On Tuesday (17), Greta was arrested in Germany while holding protests near Lützerath, a village in the west of the country, to draw attention to the climate crisis. According to police, she was released shortly after having her identity confirmed.
The Swede was protesting against the expansion of a coal mine in the region, which has already seen other clashes between agents and activists. Another act with her presence, last weekend, brought together around 35,000 people and ended with a fight between protesters and police.
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