The global Chinese coronavirus pandemic and the “climate crisis” should be tackled together, Swedish climate worrier Greta Thunberg told an Earth Day event on Wednesday.
“Today is Earth Day and that reminds us that climate and the environmental emergency is still ongoing and we need to tackle both the corona pandemic … at the same time as we tackle climate and environmental emergency, because we need to tackle two crises at once,” the 17-year-old said, according to Reuters.
Joining a live-streamed event to mark Earth Day, launched 50 years ago to highlight environmental challenges, Thunberg said the outbreak of the coronavirus meant it was time to listen to the experts.
“That goes for all crises, whether its the corona crisis or whether it is the climate crisis which is still ongoing and is not slowing down, even in times like these,” she said.
Thunberg has been quiet of late since revealing last month it’s “extremely likely” she contracted the Chinese coronavirus and has “basically recovered” from it, as Breitbart News reported.
“The last two weeks I’ve stayed inside. When I returned from my trip around Central Europe I isolated myself (in a borrowed apartment away from my mother and sister) since the number of cases of COVID-19 (in Germany for instance) were similar to Italy in the beginning,” Thunberg explained in an Instagram post.
“Around ten days ago I started feeling some symptoms, exactly the same time as my father – who traveled with me from Brussels. I was feeling tired, had shivers, a sore throat and coughed. My dad experienced the same symptoms, but much more intense and with a fever.”
Founder of the Fridays for Future youth movement, Thunberg urged other climate activists to opt for online protests — instead of large, public demonstrations — to combat the ongoing outbreak.