Student activist Greta Thunberg has cautioned there are no “grey areas when it comes to survival” in a climate change essay she has penned for British band The 1975.
The Swedish environmental activist delivers a nearly five-minute warning about climate change and our future on the track, called The 1975, from their upcoming album titled Notes on a Conditional Form.
The band posted a link to the piece on Twitter and also a photograph of Thunberg and lead singer Matthew Healy.
Thunberg says: “We are right now in the beginning of a climate and ecological crisis, and we need to call it what it is: an emergency.”
The 16-year-old says we must “admit that we are losing this battle” and that we must “acknowledge that the older generations have failed”.
Noting that “homo sapiens have not yet failed”, she says that there is still time to “turn everything around”.
// I T S T I M E T O R E B E L // @GretaThunberg L O V E https://t.co/tmjlHBRbUZ pic.twitter.com/C812vOvuMP
— The 1975 (@the1975) July 25, 2019
Thunberg says: “We still have everything in our own hands. But unless we recognise the overall failures of our current systems, we most probably don’t stand a chance.
“We are facing a disaster of unspoken sufferings for enormous amounts of people and now is not the time for speaking politely or focusing on what we can or cannot say now is the time to speak clearly.”
The teenager states that the solution is “so simple that even a small child can understand it. We have to stop our emissions of greenhouse gasses and either we do that or we don’t.
“Either we choose to go on as our civilisation or we don’t, that is as black or white as it gets because there are no grey areas when it comes to survival.”
She ends her speech on a serious note, saying “we can no longer save the world by playing by the rules because the rules have to be changed, everything needs to change, and it has to start today.
“So everyone out there it is now time for civil disobedience, it is time to rebel.”
Healy tweeted to say meeting Thunberg had been an “inspiration” and also announced that income from the song would go to Extinction Rebellion.
Meeting @GretaThunberg was such an inspiration. We (The 1975) are very proud to say that our income from this track will be pledged to @ExtinctionR https://t.co/CDWMupADFV pic.twitter.com/lOHIr0YkFc
— matty (@Truman_Black) July 24, 2019
The environmental campaigners said that Thunberg has specifically asked for revenue generated from the track to be donated to their cause.
In a statement to PA, they said: “Greta, you are an outstanding human. You were there when Extinction Rebellion launched back on Parliament Sq in London just nine months ago. Again and again you show your support in meaningful ways – from small kind acts to things like this. We salute you sister.
“To the 1975s, we thank you massively for your rebellious contribution and promise to put this to good use. We’re loving your commitment to rebel for life with us. Music has the power to break through barriers, and right now we really need to break through some barriers if we are to face this emergency. We are currently heading towards 4 degrees of heating for the world.”
Thunberg said in a statement provided by Extinction Rebellion: “I’m grateful to get the opportunity to get my message out to a broad new audience in a new way.
“I think it’s great that the 1975 is so strongly engaged in the climate crisis.
“We quickly need to get people in all branches of society to get involved. And this collaboration I think is something new.”