Two days after arriving in the United States, the young Swedish Greta Thunberg took part in her first New York climate demonstration on Friday alongside several hundred young people, before continuing with an impromptu meeting with the president of the UN General Assembly.
• Read also : In New York, Greta Thunberg calls for “to stop destroying nature”
The 16-year-old Swede, who sailed across the Atlantic for 15 days to attend the UN climate summit on September 23, remained low-key during the protest, which lasted around two hours in front of the headquarters of the UN, on the banks of the East River in Manhattan.
The one that pushed hundreds of thousands of young Europeans to march every Friday under the rallying cry #FridaysforFuture has remained silent, leaving other adolescents or students to call for action in the face of the climate emergency, some directly targeting the climate – skepticism of the Trump administration.
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“Stop denying that the Earth is dying!” “,” Strike with us! “Or” We can’t be stopped, a better world is possible! », Chanted the young people present, some of whom were under 10 years old.
Several said they had come at least in part to see the young Swede, whose chubby face and braids are now recognizable around the world.
“When we knew Greta would be there, we knew we couldn’t miss it. She is our inspiration! Said enthusiastically Atara Saunders, 17, organizer of Friday protests at her high school in the Philadelphia area.
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“Impromptu” meeting
13-year-old New Yorker Gabriel Kunin told him he was participating in his first climate protest.
“I knew there would be celebrities” like Greta, he said.
Greta Thunberg then took her first steps inside the imposing UN building, where the President of the General Assembly, Ecuadorian Maria Fernanda Espinosa, had invited her to an “impromptu” meeting, organized “At the last minute”, according to a spokesperson.
For ten minutes, the young Swede, accompanied by two other climate activists, notably spoke of the need to see “deeds and not words” on the part of world leaders, the spokesperson told AFP. word, Mark Seddon.
“Welcome to the UN, Greta Thunberg and climate activists,” the president tweeted. “Your determination to act for the climate is shaking the world and we are with you in holding leaders to account. + Science, not silence + ».
This first Friday of Greta Thunberg in New York was above all worth a test balloon before the giant parade planned in front of the UN on September 20, supposed to put pressure on the leaders of the whole world who will participate in the UN climate summit scheduled for September 23.
The young Swede – who also has her detractors, some deeming her manipulated – planned to participate, before then attending the summit itself.
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