French President Emmanuel Macron, one of the world’s most ardent supporters of the Paris climate agreement, has come out against a complaint lodged by Swedish climate alarmist Greta Thunberg with the United Nations that accuses France and four other countries of inaction against so-called global warming.
In an interview with Europe 1, Macron branded the complaint as “very radical” and warned it would likely “antagonize societies.”
“All the movements of our youth — or our not-so-young — are helpful,” explained the globalist leader. “But they must now focus on those who are furthest away, those who are seeking to block the way.”
He went on to add that he rejects the notion that “the French government nor the German government, currently, were blocking the way.”
According to the suit — filed Monday by Thunberg and 15 other children — Germany, France, Brazil, Argentina, and Turkey have violated the activists’ rights as children. The five named countries are parties to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, a treaty signed by dozens of nations 30 years ago.
The children responsible for the suit claim the five nations haven’t done enough to prevent climate change’s “deadly and foreseeable consequences.”
“Our homes are being swallowed by the ocean, the places where memories are made,” Carlos Manual, a teenager from Palau, a nation consisting of 340 islands in the South Pacific, said at a press conference announcing the suit. “I am standing in front of you because I care about my generation.”
Earlier Monday, Thunberg, who has become the de facto leader of the youth climate movement, addressed attendees of Monday’s Climate Action Summit at the U.N. headquarters.
“You are failing us,” Thunberg told the politicians and policymakers assembled at U.N. headquarters. “But the young people are starting to understand your betrayal. 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. The world is waking up. And change is coming, whether you like it or not.”
The lawsuit does not seek monetary damages. If the suit is upheld, the U.N. would be forced to classify the climate change crisis as a human rights crisis.
Brune Poirson, France’s Ecological Transition Minister, joined Macron in criticizing Thunberg’s remarks, telling French radio station France Inter: “I am not sure that you mobilize people with despair, with what is almost hatred, setting people against each other.”
Asked by French media whether Thunberg had gone too far in her comments, France’s Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer bluntly responded, “Certainly.”
The UPI contributed to this report.
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