Greta Thunberg Says Only People Like Her Can Lead Us Out Of Climate Crisis

She’s probably the most famous environmental activist in the world, and Greta Thunberg believes that her ‘different’ mindset has helped her to make people understand the seriousness of the climate crisis.

Greta, whose new documentary I Am Greta is set to be released this week, says that her Asperger’s syndrome means she is able to spread her message in a clear and simple way, and means she doesn’t feel pressured by social norms that might prevent other people from speaking out.

The 17-year old Swedish activist said: ‘To get out of this climate crisis, we need a different mindset from the one that got us into it.’

Speaking to The Guardian, Thunberg continued:

People like me – who have Asperger’s syndrome and autism, who don’t follow social codes – we are not stuck in this social game of avoiding important issues.

We dare to ask difficult questions. It helps us see through the static while everyone else seems to be content to role-play.

Greta has brought global attention to the climate crisis with her uncompromising attitude, making headlines last year with a blistering speech at the UN Climate Summit, in which she berated world leaders for destroying the lives of future generations.

And she believes that her condition is responsible for her ability to see the world differently, allowing her to concentrate on the important issues and see things that other people might not be able to.

Thunberg’s journey to becoming the face of the environmental movement began in 2018, when she began her ‘school strike for the climate’, missing school to protest outside the Swedish parliament. Greta’s parents say her passion for campaigning helped pull her out of a dark period in her life, when she stopped speaking or eating for a year.

She’s since used her platform to criticise some of the most powerful people on the planet, has campaigned alongside Sir David Attenborough, and in 2019 was named TIME’s person of the year. All while inspiring a new, youth-based movement protesting continued inaction in the face of the climate crisis.

I Am Greta will show audiences inside Greta’s life as one of the most recognisable teenagers in the world, however she is keen to point out that the climate movement is far bigger than just her.

She added: ‘All this attention isn’t going to last for very long. The interest in me will soon fade away. And, really, it’s not healthy at such a young age. So [we] need to see past it.’

I Am Greta will be released in cinemas and on Hulu on October 16.

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