We will never forgive you if you fail to act on climate change: Greta Thunberg says at UN Climate Action Summit

Swedish teen climate activist Greta Thunberg delivered a powerful and emotionally-charged speech at the United Nations Climate Action Summit in New York Monday. Thunberg told member nations participating at the Summit that the young generation will "never forgive" them if they fail to act on climate change deftly.

“I shouldn’t be standing here. I should be back in school on the other side of the ocean,” she started. Thunberg then went on to speak about how her dreams and childhood have been stolen due to the empty words of world leaders on climate change.

"Entire ecosystems are collapsing. We are in the beginning of mass extinction. And all you can talk about is money and fairytales of eternal economic growth. How dare you!" she said, displeased with the efforts of world powers in combating climate change.

(Also Read: Need, not greed, has been India's guiding principle: PM Narendra Modi Full Speech at UN Climate Action Summit 2019)

World leaders have agreed to cut down emissions by half in the next 10 years, but Thunberg has said that it will give us only a 50 percent chance of keeping global temperatures from rising above 1.5 degrees celsius.

"Maybe 50 percent is acceptable to you. But those numbers don’t include tipping points, most feedback loops, additional warming hidden by toxic air pollution or the aspects of justice and equity. They also rely on my and my children’s generation sucking hundreds of billions of tonnes of your CO2 out of the air with technologies that barely exist. So a 50 percent risk is simply not acceptable to us – we who have to live with the consequences," she said.

On my way to the United Nations. Today I’m speaking in the General Assembly at the Climate Action Summit. This is such a crucial day, world leaders are gathering at the UN in New York to decide on our future. The eyes of the world will be upon them. pic.twitter.com/0GSjmfqoxW

— Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) September 23, 2019

Greta also said in her speech that the numbers surrounding the amount of permissible carbon emissions are too uncomfortable for world leaders and that they are are "still not mature enough to tell it like it is."

“For more than 30 years the science has been crystal clear, how dare you continue to look away?”

At the @UN #ClimateAction Summit, @GretaThunberg issued a warning to leaders on behalf of millions of young people around the world: We will be watching. #ActNow pic.twitter.com/vwqE2CWAbq

— UN Foundation (@unfoundation) September 23, 2019

"The eyes of all future generations are upon you. And if you choose to fail us I say we will never forgive you. We will not let you get away with this. Right here, right now is where we draw the line," said Greta, concluding here speech.