Why you should be a climate activist | Luisa Neubauer

Translator: Jacob Ostergaard Reviewer: Jette Thrane

Det var aldrig planen, at jeg skulle blive klima-aktivist

I never planned to become a climate activist.

But things have changed,

Men situationen har forandret sig

and now, standing here as a climate activist,

og nu står jeg her, som klima-aktivist

I ask you all to become one, too.

og beder jeg alle om også at blive det.

Here's why,

Nu vil jeg fortælle hvorfor,

and most importantly, how.

og endnu vigtigere: hvordan.

Ten years ago, when I was 13 years old,

For ti år siden, da jeg var 13,

I first learned about the greenhouse effect.

lærte jeg første gang om drivhuseffekten.

Back then, we spent 90 minutes on this issue,

Vi brugte 90 minutter på emnet,

and I remember finding it quite irritating

og jeg kan huske, at det irriterede mig,

that something so fundamental

at noget så fundamentalt

would be squeezed into a single geography lesson.

blev kogt ned til kun én geografitime.

Some of this irritation remained, so when I graduated from high school,

Den irritation gik aldrig helt væk, så da jeg blev student,

I decided to study geography,

besluttede jeg at læse geografi,

just to make sure I was on the right track with this whole climate change thing.

for at sikre at jeg forstod det med klimaforandringerne.

And this is when everything changed.

Og det vendte op og ned på det hele.

This was the first time I looked at the data,

Det var første gang, jeg så på tallene,

at the science behind the climate crisis,

på videnskaben bag klimakrisen

and I couldn't believe what I was reading.

og jeg troede ikke mine egne øjne.

Like many of you,

Som de fleste

I thought that the planet wasn't really in a good state.

vidste jeg nok, at planeten ikke havde det så godt.

I had no idea that we are rushing into this self-made disaster

Men jeg anede ikke, at vi nærmer os en selvskabt katastrofe

in such a rapid pace.

med så hastige skridt.

There was also the first time I understood what difference it makes

Det var også første gang jeg forstod,

hvor stor forskel det gør at se på det store billede.

when you consider the bigger picture.

Take the CO2 concentration in the atmosphere, for instance,

Tag for eksempel koncentrationen af CO2;

the number one driver for global warming.

den vigtigste faktor i global opvarmning.

Yes, this looks bad.

Det her ser jo slemt ud.

This looks like we are on a pretty bad track.

Det ser ud som om det går den forkerte vej.

But it's only once you don't just consider the last 60 years

Men når man ser ikke bare på de sidste 60 år,

but the last 10,000 years

men de sidste 10.000 år,

that you understand how terrifying this really is.

forstår man hvor uhyggeligt, det her faktisk er.

And this is just one aspect of the crisis we're seeing.

Og det er kun ét aspekt af den krise, vi er midt i.

I'm not going to get into details here, but let me tell you so much:

Jeg vil ikke gå i detaljer, men lad mig sige én ting:

we are in a point of history

Vi lever i en tid

that the most destructive force on the planet is humanity itself.

hvor den mest ødelæggende kraft på planeten, er menneskeheden selv.

We are in a point of history

Vi lever i en tid

that no scientist could guarantee you that you will survive this.

som ingen videnskabsfolk kan love, at du overlever.

We are in a point of history

Vi lever i en tid,

that humanity is creating an environment

hvor vi skaber et miljø,

that's not safe for humans anymore.

der ikke længere er sikkert for mennesker.

Yeah, there I was,

Så der sad jeg,

first year of geography,

første år på geografi,

and felt pretty overwhelmed.

og følte mig ret overvældet.

But ...

Men ...

there was good news.

der var også gode nyheder.

Det samme år jeg hørte om alt det her,

The very same year I first learned about all this,

leaders from across the globe came together in Paris

gik ledere fra hele verden sammen i Paris

to decide on the common target to limit global warming to below two degrees.

og aftalte et fælles mål om global opvarmning på max 2 grader.

Pictures went around the world,

Billederne gik verden rundt,

and I was told that history was made that day.

og folk sagde til mig, at det var en historisk dag.

How relieving, right?

Sikke en lettelse, hva'?

Except ...

Bortset fra ...

something didn't quite work out about this.

at der var noget, der ikke helt stemte.

After this agreement was signed,

Efter aftalen var underskrevet,

things didn't really get better.

blev situationen ikke bedre.

Actually, they got much worse.

Faktisk blev den meget værre.

Decision makers and industries, leaders and politicians,

Beslutningstagere, industrier, ledere og politikere.

they went back to business as usual,

fortsatte som før

exploiting our livelihoods like there is literally no tomorrow,

og udnytter vores ressourcer uden tanke for fremtiden,

building coal power plants again and again,

og bygger flere kulkraftværker

even though we know that needs to stop,

selvom vi godt ved, at der står i Paris-aftalen,

according to the Paris Agreement.

at vi skal holde op med det.

So while there are also good developments, of course --

Så selvom der naturligvis også sker noget positiv --

there are installations of wind and solar energy all over the globe, yes --

der bliver installeret vind- og solenergi verden over, ja --

but these positive changes are slow -- too slow, in fact.

men de forandringer går langsomt -- alt for langsomt, faktisk.

So since the Paris Agreement was signed,

Så efter Paris-aftalen blev underskrevet,

climate graphs keep racing to the top,

fortsætter graferne deres himmelflugt

smashing records every year.

og sætter nye rekorder hvert år.

The five hottest years ever recorded

De fem varmeste år, vi nogensinde har målt

were the previous five years,

er de sidste fem år,

and at no time have global emissions been higher than today.

og vi har aldrig udledt mere, på globalt plan, end vi gør i dag.

So there I was,

Så der stod jeg

seeing and understanding the science on the one side,

på én gang kunne jeg se og forstå videnskaben,

but not seeing answers, not seeing the action, on the other side.

og se, at der ikke kom svar, at der ikke kom handling.

At that point, I had enough.

Og så fik jeg nok.

I wanted to go to the UN Climate Conference myself,

Jeg besluttede mig for at tage med til FN's Klimakonvention,

that very place that was created to bring people together

det forum, der blev oprettet for at bringe folk sammen

to fix the climate --

for at få styr på klimaet --

except not really, apparently.

men åbenbart ikke sådan rigtigt.

This was last year.

Det var sidste år.

I traveled to the Climate Conference and wanted to find out

Jeg rejste over til Klimakonventionen for at finde ud af

what this is really like, what this is about.

hvad der foregår, hvad det egentlig handler om.

For political realists, this might be no surprise,

Hvis du er politisk realist, er det måske ikke overraskende,

but I found it hard to bear:

men for mig var det svært at tage:

that fossil fuel industries and political leaders

Olieindustrien og politiske ledere

are doing everything, everything to prevent real change from happening.

gør alt, alt hvad de kan for at forhindre réel forandring.

They are not keen to set targets that are ambitious enough

De vil helst ikke sætte mål, der er ambitiøse nok

to put us on a below-two-degree pathway.

til at holde os under de 2 grader.

After all, these are the only ones who benefit from this climate crisis, right?

De er jo dem, der som de eneste, har gavn af denne klimakrise, ikke?

The fossil fuel industry generates profits,

Olieindustrien genererer profit,

and political leaders, well, they look at the next election,

og de politiske ledere, overvejer næste valg,

at what makes them popular,

og det der er populært

and I guess that's not asking the inconvenient questions.

og det er åbenbart ikke at stille de svære spørgsmål

There is no intention for them to change the game.

De har ingen grund til at ændre spillets regler.

There is no country in the world where either companies or political powers

Der findes ingen lande, hvor virksomheder eller politiske kræfter

are sanctioned for wrecking the climate.

bliver underlagt sanktioner, når de smadrer klimaet.

With all the strangeness and the sadness about this conference,

Hvor underlig og trist, den konvention end var,

there was one someone who was different,

så var der én, der var anderledes,

someone who seemed to be quite worried,

én som virkede ret bekymret,

and that was Greta Thunberg.

og det var Greta Thunberg.

I decided right there that everything else seemed hopeless

I dét øjeblik besluttede jeg at alt andet virkede håbløst

and didn't seem to make sense,

og meningsløst

so I joined her climate strike right there at the conference.

så jeg gik med i hendes klimastrejke, lige der på konventionen.

It was my very first climate strike ever

Det var min første klimastrejke,

and an incredibly strange setting,

og det var en meget mærkelig kulisse,

just me and her sitting there at this conference hall,

bare hun og jeg, der sad der i konferencelokalet,

surrounded by this busyness of the suit-wearing conference crowd

omringet af et virvar af jakkeklædte konferencedeltagere,

who had no idea what to do with us.

som slet ikke anede, hvad de skulle stille op med os.

And yet, this felt more powerful

Og alligevel føltes det mere kraftfuldt,

than anything I had expected in a very long time.

end jeg længe havde turde håbe på.

And it was right there that I felt it was maybe time

Og det var lige der, jeg fik følelsen af, at det var tid til

to start striking in Germany.

at begynde at strejke i Tyskland.

I was now certain that no one else was going to fix this for us,

Jeg var blevet overbevist om, at ingen andre ville gøre det for os,

and if there was just the slightest chance that this could make a difference,

og var der den mindste chance for, at det kunne gøre en forskel

it seemed almost foolish not to give it a go.

virkede det dumt ikke at prøve.

So I --

Så jeg --

(Applause)

(klapsalver)

So I traveled back to Berlin.

Så jeg rejste tilbage til Berlin.

I found allies who had the same idea at the same time,

Jeg fik allierede, som havde fået den samme idé på det tidspunkt.

and together we thought we'd give this "Fridays For Future" thing a go.

og sammen ville vi afprøve "Fredage for fremtiden".

Obviously, we had no idea what we were getting into.

Vi anede naturligvis ikke, hvad vi rodede os ud i.

Before our first strike, many of us, including me,

Før vores første strejke havde mange af os, inklusive mig

aldrig organiseret en demonstration eller nogen form for protestaktion før.

had never organized a public demonstration or any kind of protest before.

We had no money, no resources

Vi havde ingen penge, ingen ressourcer

and absolutely no idea what climate striking really is.

og overhovedet ingen idé om hvad klimastrejke er.

So we started doing what we were good at:

Så vi begyndte med noget, vi var gode til:

we started texting,

at sende tekstbeskeder

texting en masse, night and day, everyone we could reach,

vi skrev dag og nat, til så mange som muligt,

organizing our first climate strike via WhatsApp.

og vi organiserede vores første klimastrejke gennem WhatsApp.

The night before our first strike, I was so nervous I couldn't sleep.

Natten før vores første strejkeaktion kunne jeg ikke sove af nervøsitet.

I didn't know what to expect, but I expected the worst.

Jeg vidste ikke, hvad jeg skulle forvente, men havde bange anelser.

Maybe it was because we weren't the only ones

Måske var det fordi vi ikke var de eneste,

who had been longing to have a voice in a political environment

der havde længtes efter at få en stemme i et politisk miljø

that had seemingly forgotten how to include young people's perspective

der lod til at have glemt at inkludere de unges perspektiv

into decision-making, maybe.

i beslutningsprocessen. Måske.

But somehow this worked out.

Men på en eller anden måde viste det sig at virke.

And from one day to the other,

Og fra den ene dag til den anden

we were all over the place.

var vi over det hele.

And I, from one day to the other,

Og jeg var, fra den ene dag til den anden

became a climate activist.

blevet en klima-aktivist.

Usually,

Normalt,

in these kind of TED Talks,

i den her slags TED Talk,

I would now say how it's overly hopeful,

er vi nu kommet dertil, hvor jeg skal sige, at der er håb,

how we young people are going to get this sorted,

at vi unge mennesker nok skal få styr på det

how we're going to save the future and the planet and everything else,

at vi redder fremtiden og planeten og det hele

at vi unge mennesker, der strejker for klimaet,

how we young people striking for the climate

are going to fix this.

kan løse det her problem.

Usually.

Sådan er det normalt.

But this is not how this works.

Men ikke med det her.

This is not how this crisis works.

Sådan fungerer den her krise ikke.

Here's a twist:

Her kommer plot-twistet:

today, three and a half years after that Paris Agreement was signed,

Når vi ser på videnskaben i dag,

when we look at the science,

tre-et-halvt år efter Paris-aftalen,

we find it's still possible to keep global warming

kan vi se, det stadig er muligt at holde den globale opvarmning

to below two degrees --

under to grader --

technically.

teknisk muligt.

And we also see it's still possible to hold other disastrous developments

Og vi kan også se, det stadig er muligt at stoppe andre katastrofer

we're seeing, such as mass extinction and soil degradation --

der er ved at ske, såsom masseudryddelser og jordforringelse --

yes, technically.

ja, teknisk set.

It's just incredibly, incredibly unlikely.

Det er bare helt utrolig usandsynligt.

And in any case,

Og uanset hvad,

the world would have to see changes

kræver det forandring

i en skala, vi aldrig har set før.

which we have never experienced before.

We'd have to fully decarbonize our economies by 2050

Vores økonomier skulle blive carbon-uafhængige før 2050

and transform the distribution of powers

og vi skulle omvælte den magtfordeling

that is currently allowing those fossil fuel giants and political leaders

der i øjeblikket tillader oliegiganterne sammen med politiske ledere

to stay on top of the game.

at blive siddende på magten.

We are talking of nothing less than the greatest transformation

Vi taler om intet mindre end den største omvæltning

since the Industrial Revolution.

siden den industrielle revolution.

We are talking, if you want to put it that way,

Vi taler, om man vil,

we are talking of a climate revolution

om en klimarevolution.

in a minimum amount of time.

på rekordtid.

We wouldn't have a single further year to lose.

Der ville ikke være ét år mere at spilde

And in any case, for any of that change to happen,

Og uanset hvad, kræver den slags forandring

the world needs to stop relying on

at verden ikke forventer,

one or two or three million school strikers to sort this out.

at en eller tre millioner skolestrejkere kan ordne det her.

Yes, we are great, we are going to keep going,

Jo, vi er ret seje, og vi bliver ved,

and we are going to go to places no one ever expected us, yes.

og vi kommer til at udrette ting, som ingen havde forestillet sig. Ja.

But we are not the limit;

Men det slutter ikke med os;

we are the start.

det begynder med os.

This is not a job for a single generation.

Det her er ikke en opgave for én generation.

This is a job for humanity.

Det er en opgave for menneskeheden.

And this is when all eyes are on you.

Og det er nu, at alle øjne vender sig mod jer.

For this change to happen,

Hvis det her skal lykkes

we will have to get one million things sorted.

skal vi få styr på en million ting

It's an incredibly complex thing, after all.

Det er trods alt en meget kompleks problemstilling.

But ...

Men ...

there are some things that everyone can get started with.

der er nogle ting, vi allesammen kan gå i gang med.

Bad news first: if you thought I would tell you now to cycle more

De dårlige nyheder først: Hvis I troede, jeg ville bede Jer om at cykle mere

or eat less meat, to fly less, or to go secondhand shopping,

spise mindre kød, flyve mindre, eller tage en tur i genbrugsbutikken;

sorry, this is not that easy.

beklager, så nemt er det ikke.

But here comes the good news:

Men her er de gode nyheder:

you are more than consumers and shoppers,

I er mere end bare købere og forbrugere

even though the industry would like you to keep yourselves limited to that.

selvom industrien gerne ser, at I begrænser Jer dertil.

No; me and you -- we are all political beings,

Nej, du og jeg -- vi er allesammen politiske væsner

and we can all be part of this answer.

og vi kan allesammen være en del af svaret på det her.

We can all be something that many people call climate activists.

Vi kan alle være det, som mange kalder klima-aktivister.

Yay?

yay?

(Laughter)

(latter)

So what are the first steps?

Hvad er de første skridt så?

Four first steps that are essential to get everything else done,

Fire trin er nødvendige, før resten lader sig gøre.

four first steps that everyone can get started with,

De fire første skridt, som alle kan tage

four first steps that decide about everything that can happen after.

De fire første skridt, som er afgørende.

So what's that?

Og hvad er de så?

Number one:

Nummer ét:

we need to drastically reframe our understanding of a climate activist,

Vi skal drastisk omdefinere forståelse af en klima-aktivist

our understanding of who can be the answer to this.

vores opfattelse af, hvem der er svaret på det.

A climate activist isn't that one person that's read every single study

En klima-aktivist er ikke én der har læst alle videnskabelige artikler

and is now spending every afternoon handing out leaflets about vegetarianism

og nu bruger hver eftermiddag på at uddele brochurer om vegetarisme

in shopping malls.

i indkøbscentre.

No.

Nej.

En klima-aktivist kan være hvem som helst.

A climate activist can be everyone,

everyone who wants to join a movement of those who intend to grow old

Enhver der vil være med i en bevægelse for dem, der vil bo

on a planet that prioritizes protection of natural environments

på en planet, der prioriterer at beskytte naturlige miljøer

and happiness and health for the many

og glæde og sundhed for de mange

over the destruction of the climate and the wrecking of the planet

fremfor at ødelægge klimaet og smadre planeten

for the profits of the few.

så nogle få kan score profit.

And since the climate crisis is affecting every single part of our social,

Og fordi klimakrisen påvirker hver eneste del af vores sociale,

of our political and of our private life,

vores politiske, og vores private liv,

we need climate activists everywhere on every corner,

har vi brug for klima-aktivister overalt på hvert gadehjørne,

not only in every room,

og ikke bare i alle værelser,

but also in every city and country and state and continent.

men i alle byer, lande, stater og kontinenter.

Second:

Nummer to:

I need you to get out of that zone of convenience,

I skal komme ud af jeres komfortzone

away from a business as usual that has no tomorrow.

Det vi plejer at gøre, er der ingen fremtid i.

All of you here, you are either a friend or a family member,

Alle her i salen, I er nogens venner eller familie,

you are a worker, a colleague, a student, a teacher

I er arbejdere, kolleger, elever, lærere

or, in many cases, a voter.

og måske er I også stemmeberettigede.

All of this comes along with a responsibility

Det medfører altsammen et ansvar

that this crisis requires you to grow up to.

som denne krise kræver, at I tager.

There's the company that employs you

Det firma, du er ansat i,

or that sponsors you.

eller som sponsorerer dig,

Is it on track of meeting the Paris Agreement?

overholder de Paris-aftalen?

Does your local parliamentarian know that you care about this,

Ved din repræsentant i Folketinget, at du går op i det her,

og at du vil have det på dagsordenen til valget?

that you want this to be a priority in every election?

Does your best friend know about this?

Har din bedste ven hørt om det her?

Do you read a newspaper or write a newspaper? Great.

Læser du avis, eller skriver du for en avis? Fedt.

Så fortæl den, at der skal skrives om det her i hver eneste udgave,

Then let them know you want them to report on this in every issue,

and that you want them to challenge decision makers in every single interview.

og at beslutningstagerne skal udfordres hver dag.

If you're a singer, sing about this. If you're a teacher, teach about this.

Er du sanger? Så syng om det her. Er du lærer? Så undervis i det.

And if you have a bank account, tell your bank you're going to leave

Og hvis du har en bankkonto, så sig til din bank, at du skrider,

if they keep investing in fossil fuels.

hvis de bliver ved med at investere i olie

And, of course, on Fridays, you should all know what to do.

Og så, selvfølgelig, om fredagen, der ved I, hvad I skal.

Thirdly:

Nummer tre:

leaving that zone of convenience works best when you join forces.

At forlade komfortzonen, fungerer bedst i fællesskab.

One person asking for inconvenient change

Én person, der kalder på besværlige forandringer,

is mostly inconvenient.

er mest bare besværlig.

Two, five, ten, one hundred people asking for inconvenient change

To, fem, ti, hundrede personer, der kalder på besværlige forandringer

are hard to ignore.

er svære at ignorere.

The more you are, the harder it gets for people to justify

Jo flere I er, des sværere bliver det for folk at forsvare

a system that has no future.

et system, der ikke har nogen fremtid.

Power is not something that you either have or don't have.

Magt er ikke noget, man enten har eller ikke har.

Power is something you either take or leave to others,

Magt er noget, man enten tager eller overlader til andre,

and it grows once you share it.

og som bliver større, når man deler det.

We young people on the streets, we school strikers,

Vi unge mennesker på gaden, vi skolestrejkende,

we are showing how this can work out.

viser jer, hvordan det kan fungere.

One single school striker will always be one single school striker --

Én skolestrejkende vil altid blot være én skolestrejkende --

well, Greta Thunberg.

eller Greta Thunberg.

Two, five, ten, one thousand people striking school are a movement,

To-, fem-, titusinde, der strejker, er en bevægelse,

og det er det, vi mangler, overalt.

and that's what we need everywhere.

No pressure.

Så det er jo en smal sag.

(Laughter)

(latter)

And number four, finally --

Og sidst, men ikke mindst, nummer fire:

and this is probably the most important aspect of all of this --

Det her er måske det allervigtigste i alt det her.

I need you to start taking yourselves more seriously.

I bliver nødt til at tage jer selv mere alvorligt.

If there's one thing I've learned

Hvis jeg har lært én ting

during seven months of organizing climate action,

af at organisere klima-aktioner i syv måneder,

it's that if you don't go for something,

så er det, at hvis man ikke giver noget et forsøg

chances are high that no one else will.

er der sandsynligvis heller ikke andre, der gør.

The most powerful institutions of this world

Verdens mest magtfulde institutioner

have no intention of changing the game they're profiting from most,

har ikke tænkt sig at lave om på det spil, de tjener så godt på,

so there's no point in further relying on them.

så der er ingen grund til at overlade det til dem.

That's scary, I know.

Jeg ved godt, det er skræmmende.

That's a huge responsibility, a huge burden on everyone's shoulders, yes.

Det er et enormt ansvar, en enorm vægt på alles skuldre, ja.

But this also means,

Men det betyder også,

if we want to,

at hvis vi vil,

we can have a say in this.

kan vi gøre noget ved det her.

We can be part of that change. We can be part of that answer.

Vi kan være en del af forandringen. Vi kan være en del af svaret.

And that's quite beautiful, right?

Og er det ikke ret smukt?

So let's give it a try, let's rock and roll,

Så lad os komme derudad.

let's flood the world with climate activists.

Lad os oversvømme verden med klima-aktivister.

Let's get out of the zones of convenience

Lad os komme ud af vores komfortzoner

and join forces and start taking ourselves more seriously.

gå sammen og begynde at tage os selv mere alvorligt.

Imagine what this world would look like,

Forestil jer, hvordan denne verden ville se ud,

where children would grow up,

hvis børn kunne vokse op

knowing their future was this one great adventure to look forward to

i vished om, at fremtiden er et eventyr de kan glæde sig til

and nothing to be scared of,

og ikke noget at være bange for,

what this world would look like when the next climate conference

hvordan verden ville se ud, hvis den næste klimakonvention

is this great happening of people who come together,

er en stor begivenhed hvor de der mødes,

who had heard the voices of millions,

har hørt millioner af stemmer,

who would then roll up their sleeves, ready to create real change.

og trækker i arbejdstøjet for at skabe ægte forandring.

You know,

Altså,

I dream of this world

jeg drømmer om en verden,

where geography classes teach about the climate crisis

hvor man i geografitimerne lærer om klimakrisen

som den her enestående, store udfordring

as this one greatest challenge

that was won by people like you and me,

der blev overvundet af folk som dig og mig

who had started acting in time

som handlede i tide

because they understood they had nothing to lose

fordi de forstod, de ikke havde noget at tabe

and everything to win.

men alt at vinde.

So why not give it a go?

Så hvorfor ikke forsøge?

Der kommer ikke andre og redder fremtiden.

No one else will save the future for us.

This is more than an invitation. Spread the word.

Det her er mere end en invitation. Sig det videre.

Thank you.

Tak.

(Applause)

(klapsalver)