The disarming case to act right now on climate change | Greta Thunberg

Translator: Akinori Oyama Reviewer: Peter van de Ven

Traductor: Victoria Hernández Revisor: Sebastian Betti

When I was about eight years old,

Cuando tenía ocho años,

I first heard about something called climate change or global warming.

escuché de algo llamado calentamiento global o cambio climático,

Apparently, that was something humans had created by our way of living.

creado por los humanos con nuestro estilo de vida.

I was told to turn off the lights to save energy

Me dijeron que apagara las luces para ahorrar energía

and to recycle paper to save resources.

y reciclara papel para ahorrar recursos.

I remember thinking that it was very strange

Recuerdo extrañarme de que

that humans, who are an animal species among others,

los humanos, aún siendo solo una especie animal,

could be capable of changing the Earth's climate.

fuéramos capaces de cambiar el clima de la Tierra.

Because if we were, and if it was really happening,

Porque, de ser así,

we wouldn't be talking about anything else.

no se hablaría de nada más.

As soon as you'd turn on the TV, everything would be about that.

Al encender la tele, sería el centro de atención.

Headlines, radio, newspapers,

En periódicos, radios y noticieros

you would never read or hear about anything else,

no se leería ni se escucharía sobre otro tema,

as if there was a world war going on.

como al estar en medio de una guerra.

But no one ever talked about it.

Pero nadie hablaba de eso.

If burning fossil fuels was so bad that it threatened our very existence,

Si los combustibles fósiles eran una amenaza,

how could we just continue like before?

¿por qué seguíamos como si nada?

Why were there no restrictions?

¿Por qué no había restricciones?

Why wasn't it made illegal?

¿Por qué no eran ilegales?

To me, that did not add up.

Para mí, no tenía sentido.

It was too unreal.

Era demasiado irreal.

So when I was 11, I became ill.

Así que a los 11 años, enfermé.

I fell into depression,

Caí en depresión.

I stopped talking,

Dejé de hablar

and I stopped eating.

y de comer.

In two months, I lost about 10 kilos of weight.

En dos meses, perdí 10 kilos.

Later on, I was diagnosed with Asperger syndrome,

Me diagnosticaron Asperger,

OCD and selective mutism.

TOC y mutismo selectivo,

That basically means I only speak when I think it's necessary -

o sea que solo hablo cuando es necesario,

now is one of those moments.

como en este momento.

(Applause)

(Aplausos)

For those of us who are on the spectrum,

Para aquellos en el espectro,

almost everything is black or white.

casi todo es blanco o negro.

We aren't very good at lying,

No mentimos bien

and we usually don't enjoy participating in this social game

y no disfrutamos este juego social

that the rest of you seem so fond of.

que el resto ama tanto.

(Laughter)

(Risas)

I think in many ways that we autistic are the normal ones,

Pienso que, de muchas formas, los autistas somos los normales,

and the rest of the people are pretty strange,

y el resto, son los raros.

(Laughter)

(Risas)

especially when it comes to the sustainability crisis,

Y más cuando se trata de la crisis de sostenibilidad,

where everyone keeps saying climate change is an existential threat

porque se dice que el cambio climático es una amenaza

and the most important issue of all,

y el problema más urgente,

and yet they just carry on like before.

pero todos actúan igual que siempre.

I don't understand that,

No lo entiendo.

because if the emissions have to stop,

Porque si las emisiones deben parar,

then we must stop the emissions.

que paren.

To me that is black or white.

Para mí eso es blanco o negro.

There are no gray areas when it comes to survival.

Cuando se trata de sobrevivir, no hay áreas grises.

Either we go on as a civilization or we don't.

O continuamos como civilización o no.

We have to change.

Debemos cambiar.

Rich countries like Sweden need to start reducing emissions

Países ricos, como Suecia, deben reducir sus emisiones

by at least 15 percent every year.

al menos un 15 % cada año

And that is so that we can stay below a two-degree warming target.

para estar bajo el objetivo de dos grados de calentamiento.

Yet, as the IPCC have recently demonstrated,

Como el IPCC demostró,

aiming instead for 1.5 degrees Celsius

cambiar el objetivo por 1,5 grados Celsius

would significantly reduce the climate impacts.

reduciría el impacto climático.

But we can only imagine what that means for reducing emissions.

Pero imaginen lo que representa tal reducción.

You would think the media and every one of our leaders

Se pensaría que los líderes y medios

would be talking about nothing else,

hablarían solo de eso,

but they never even mention it.

pero ni lo mencionan.

Nor does anyone ever mention

Tampoco mencionan

the greenhouse gases already locked in the system.

los gases de invernadero ya presentes en el sistema,

Nor that air pollution is hiding a warming

ni que la contaminación del aire esconde calor

so that when we stop burning fossil fuels,

para que al dejar de usar combustibles fósiles

we already have an extra level of warming

tengamos un nivel de calor extra

perhaps as high as 0.5 to 1.1 degrees Celsius.

de hasta 0,5 o 1,1 grados Celsius.

Furthermore does hardly anyone speak about the fact

Tampoco se habla de que

that we are in the midst of the sixth mass extinction,

estamos en nuestra sexta extinción en masa,

with up to 200 species going extinct every single day,

con 200 especies que se extinguen cada día.

that the extinction rate today

El promedio de extinción hoy

is between 1,000 and 10,000 times higher

es entre mil y 10 000 veces mayor

than what is seen as normal.

de lo que se considera normal.

Nor does hardly anyone ever speak about the aspect of equity or climate justice,

Y nadie habla de equidad ni justicia climática,

clearly stated everywhere in the Paris Agreement,

establecida claramente en el Tratado de París,

which is absolutely necessary to make it work on a global scale.

y necesaria para que funcione a escala global.

That means that rich countries

Significa que países ricos

need to get down to zero emissions within 6 to 12 years,

deben llegar a cero emisiones entre 6 y 12 años,

with today's emission speed.

con la rapidez de emisiones actual,

And that is so that people in poorer countries

para que países más pobres

can have a chance to heighten their standard of living

puedan mejorar su calidad de vida

by building some of the infrastructure that we have already built,

al construir infraestructura que nosotros ya tenemos:

such as roads, schools, hospitals,

carreteras, escuelas, hospitales,

clean drinking water, electricity, and so on.

agua potable y electricidad.

Because how can we expect countries like India or Nigeria

¿Cómo podemos esperar que países como India o Nigeria

to care about the climate crisis

se preocupen por la crisis climática

if we who already have everything don't care even a second about it

si a nosotros, que lo tenemos todo no nos importa,

or our actual commitments to the Paris Agreement?

ni tampoco los acuerdos del Tratado de París?

So, why are we not reducing our emissions?

¿Por qué no hay menos emisiones?

Why are they in fact still increasing?

¿Por qué aumentan?

Are we knowingly causing a mass extinction?

¿Estamos provocando una extinción?

Are we evil?

¿Somos malvados?

No, of course not.

No, claro que no.

People keep doing what they do

Las personas actúan así

because the vast majority doesn't have a clue

porque la mayoría no conoce

about the actual consequences of our everyday life,

los efectos del diario vivir

and they don't know that rapid change is required.

y no entienden que hay que cambiar.

We all think we know, and we all think everybody knows,

Creemos saber y que todos saben,

but we don't.

pero no.

Because how could we?

¿Cómo podríamos?

If there really was a crisis,

Si hubiera una crisis

and if this crisis was caused by our emissions,

causada por las emisiones,

you would at least see some signs.

se verían señales,

Not just flooded cities, tens of thousands of dead people,

no solo inundaciones, decenas de miles de muertes,

and whole nations leveled to piles of torn down buildings.

y naciones reducidas a escombro.

You would see some restrictions.

Se verían restricciones,

But no.

pero no.

And no one talks about it.

Y nadie habla de eso.

There are no emergency meetings, no headlines, no breaking news.

No hay reuniones de emergencia, titulares, ni noticias urgentes.

No one is acting as if we were in a crisis.

Nadie actúa como si estuviéramos en crisis.

Even most climate scientists or green politicians

Hasta científicos y políticos ambientalistas

keep on flying around the world, eating meat and dairy.

viajan por el mundo comiendo carne y lácteos.

If I live to be 100, I will be alive in the year 2103.

Si llego a cien años, viviré en el 2103.

When you think about the future today, you don't think beyond the year 2050.

Cuando Uds. piensan en el futuro, no pasan del 2050,

By then, I will, in the best case, not even have lived half of my life.

en ese año, yo estaré casi a la mitad de mi vida.

What happens next?

¿Qué pasa después?

The year 2078, I will celebrate my 75th birthday.

En el 2078, cumpliré 75 años.

If I have children or grandchildren, maybe they will spend that day with me.

Si tengo nietos, tal vez, estarán conmigo.

Maybe they will ask me about you,

Tal vez me pregunten por Uds.,

the people who were around, back in 2018.

las personas del 2018.

Maybe they will ask why you didn't do anything

Tal vez, pregunten por qué no actuaron

while there still was time to act.

cuando aún se podía.

What we do or don't do right now will affect my entire life

Lo que hagamos o no afecta toda mi vida

and the lives of my children and grandchildren.

y la vida de mis hijos y nietos.

What we do or don't do right now,

Lo que hagamos o no, ahora,

me and my generation can't undo in the future.

mi generación no podrá deshacer luego.

So when school started in August of this year,

Cuando empezaron las clases en agosto,

I decided that this was enough.

decidí que ya era suficiente.

I set myself down on the ground outside the Swedish parliament.

Me senté frente al parlamento sueco.

I school striked for the climate.

Hice huelga escolar por el clima.

Some people say that I should be in school instead.

Me dicen que debería de ir a la escuela

Some people say that I should study to become a climate scientist

o estudiar para hacerme científica

so that I can "solve the climate crisis."

y "resolver la crisis climática".

But the climate crisis has already been solved.

Pero ya está resuelta.

We already have all the facts and solutions.

Ya tenemos los datos y las soluciones.

All we have to do is to wake up and change.

Lo que hay que hacer es despertar y cambiar.

And why should I be studying for a future that soon will be no more

¿Por qué estudiar para un futuro que no existirá

when no one is doing anything whatsoever to save that future?

porque nadie intenta salvarlo?

And what is the point of learning facts in the school system

¿Para qué aprender del sistema educativo,

when the most important facts

si los datos más importantes

given by the finest science of that same school system

dados por lo mejor de la ciencia dentro del mismo sistema,

clearly means nothing to our politicians and our society.

son ignorados por los políticos y por la sociedad?

Some people say that Sweden is just a small country,

Algunos dicen que Suecia es un país pequeño,

and that it doesn't matter what we do,

que no importa lo que hagamos,

but I think that if a few children can get headlines all over the world

pero si unos niños pueden llamar la atención del mundo

just by not coming to school for a few weeks,

al faltar a la escuela unas semanas,

imagine what we could all do together if you wanted to.

imaginen lo que todos juntos podríamos lograr si quisiéramos.

(Applause)

(Aplausos)

Now we're almost at the end of my talk,

Casi llegamos al final de mi charla,

and this is where people usually start talking about hope,

donde usualmente se habla de esperanza,

solar panels, wind power, circular economy, and so on,

paneles solares, energía eólica y economía circular.

but I'm not going to do that.

Pero no haré eso.

We've had 30 years of pep-talking and selling positive ideas.

Ya hemos tenido 30 años de motivación e ideas optimistas.

And I'm sorry, but it doesn't work.

Y lo siento, pero no sirve.

Because if it would have,

Porque si sirviera,

the emissions would have gone down by now.

las emisiones habrían disminuido.

They haven't.

No es así.

And yes, we do need hope,

Y sí, necesitamos esperanza,

of course we do.

por supuesto.

But the one thing we need more than hope is action.

Pero lo que más necesitamos es acción.

Once we start to act, hope is everywhere.

Cuando actuemos, la esperanza estará ahí.

So instead of looking for hope,

Así que, en lugar de esperanza,

look for action.

busquemos acción.

Then, and only then, hope will come.

Solamente así, la esperanza llegará.

Today, we use 100 million barrels of oil every single day.

A diario, usamos 100 millones de barriles de petróleo.

There are no politics to change that.

No hay políticas para cambiar eso.

There are no rules to keep that oil in the ground.

No hay reglas para dejar de usar ese petróleo.

So we can't save the world by playing by the rules,

Así que, no podemos salvar al mundo siguiendo las reglas,

because the rules have to be changed.

porque se debe cambiar las reglas.

Everything needs to change --

Todo debe cambiar.

and it has to start today.

Y hay que empezar hoy.

Thank you.

Gracias.

(Applause)

(Aplausos)