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Greta Thunberg Slams New Zealand Prime Jacinda Ardern

Greta Thunberg Slams New Zealand Prime Jacinda Ardern

The Swedish activist said the leader isn't doing enough on climate change.

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie

Greta Thunberg has taken an almighty swipe at New Zealand's Prime Minister.

In an interview with The Guardian, the Swedish climate activist said she can't think of a single politician who is doing enough to combat climate change.

When the interviewer suggested Jacinda Ardern has declared climate change a 'matter of life or death', Greta was seemingly unimpressed.

"It's funny that people believe Jacinda Ardern and people like that are climate leaders," she said as a reply.

"That just tells you how little people know about the climate crisis. Obviously the emissions haven't fallen. It goes without saying that these people are not doing anything."

Lynn Grieveson/Alamy Live News

Savage. One new admission to the burns unit please.

NZ Climate Change Minister James Shaw has admitted that the government's climate change policy hasn't yielded any positive movement in the fight against emissions yet, but he promised they would soon start to see some effect.

He told Stuff: "That is why the work our Government is doing is so important - and clearly we have a lot of work to do."

But this isn't the first public war of words between Ms Thunberg and the leader of New Zealand.

Ms Ardern declared a climate emergency in December last year and even though the intentions were valid, it seems like the Swedish activist wanted more than just words in parliament.

Greta Thunberg called the declaration virtue signalling and said merely declaring what is well known won't really achieve much.

In a tweet, she quoted an article from New Zealand's Newsroom that outlined what the efforts will mean in real terms.

Pacific Press Media Production Corp./Alamy Live News

"'In other words, the Government has just committed to reducing less than 1 percent of the country's emissions by 2025'. Text explaining New Zealand's so-called climate emergency declaration. This is of course nothing unique to any nation," the Swedish climate activist said.

New Zealand's government admits the climate emergency declaration in parliament was merely the start of what they hope will be concerted efforts to combat the changing climate.

Ms Ardern also hit back at Greta and told her to actually look at the fine print instead of just top-line policy aims.

"I would, of course, give the context there that, if that was the sum ambition of any government, then that would be worthy of criticism," she said.

"It is not our sum ambition. And it is not the totality of our plans on climate change.

"But again, I think that it's actually for us just to get on with the business of fulfilling our obligations and expectations."

Featured Image Credit: dpa picture alliance/Alamy Live News

Topics: New Zealand, Greta Thunberg, News