Welcome to The Daily Show.
-Thank you so much.
-And welcome to New York City.
You came here
on a zero-emissions boat,
and part of me thinks that's
because you love the climate;
the other part of me wonders
if that's just
your Viking heritage.
-(laughter)
-Maybe it is.
-It might be?
-Yeah.
Tell me why you did that.
Why didn't you fly
to New York City
to come and, you know, speak
at the U.N. and-and, you know,
inspire people to move forward
in the climate change movement?
I did it because I have,
since a few years,
stopped flying
because of the enormous impact
aviation has on the climate,
uh, individually.
And, um, just to make a stand.
And, uh, I am one of
the very few people in the world
who can actually do such a trip,
so I thought, why not?
Wow.
(applause, cheering)
Wow. I, uh...
I mean, I know
I wouldn't do that as a kid,
-and I wouldn't do it now. Um...
-(laughter)
But what-what is inspiring
is your determination,
and what's inspiring
is that it doesn't just affect
other young people.
It started to effect
older generations
in Sweden, in Germany.
People are starting to call it
"The Greta Effect,"
where people are taking
more trains--
since you started
this movement--
they've said they feel ashamed
to fly unnecessarily
in Europe.
Your mom is an opera singer
and she stopped flying,
which means she couldn't perform
the way she used to.
Do you sometimes feel bad
that she can't perform,
or are you more excited
that she's not part of,
I guess, polluting the planet?
I don't care, honestly,
about how she performs.
-She...
-(laughter)
She...
(laughter and applause)
She's... She's doing
musicals now,
so, I mean,
she had to change career,
but it wasn't that big.
(laughter)
And the planet is the most
important thing for you.
Yeah. I mean, for all of us,
I think it should be.
Why...
(applause)
Why do you think...
Why do you think young people
are so focused
on climate change now?
There's a definite, uh,
disconnect
between older generations
and younger generations
when talking about the climate.
Why do think that is?
I mean, I think it is
because we, in a way,
feel like it is more
a direct threat.
Others feel like,
"I won't be alive then,
anyway, so screw it."
But we...
But we, we actually know
that these consequences
will face us during
our lifetime,
and it is already
happening now.
And it will get worse.
And, uh, so I think
that is why
so many young people,
especially, care about this.
And, uh, and, of course,
the awareness is not
as it needs to be,
it's not as much
as it needs to be.
People are still very unaware,
it's my experience.
And, uh, so we need to continue,
but you can see
that among young people
the concern is bigger.
What do you think people need
to learn about climate change?
Many people have heard
of the climate warming up.
Some people have a small
understanding of what it means,
but what do you think is lacking
in the understanding
of this issue?
I think pretty much everything
because, I mean,
we know that something is wrong,
that the planet is warming
because of increased
greenhouse gas emissions,
and that might lead to--
that the ice caps will melt,
and the global temperature
will rise,
and there will be more extreme
weather events and so on.
But they-they don't understand
how severe
this crisis actually is,
and it is because
they have not been informed.
Um, I mean, we are right now
in the beginning
of the sixth max--
mass extinction,
and, uh, people don't know
these things.
Up to 200 species go extinct
every single day,
and, uh, people don't even know
that we have...
For a 67% chance of limiting
the global temperature rise
to 1.5 degrees,
we had, on January 1, 2018,
420 gigatons of carbon dioxide
left to emit
to stay within that target,
and now we're already down
to less than 360.
If we continue at the same
emission level as now,
we have less
than eight and a half years
until that budget is gone
according to the IPCC
from the SR15 report.
And that is for a 67% chance.
Wow.
And, um...
Wow. 67% chance,
and we're not even hitting
those targets.
What do you think
people could do,
and what do you think
governments should be doing?
I think people should do...
should do everything,
but I think right now,
if I were to choose one thing
everyone would do,
it would be to...
to inform yourself
and to try to understand
the situation
and try to-to push
for a political movement
that doesn't exist
because the politics needed
to... to fix this
-doesn't exist today.
-Mm-hmm.
Um, so, I think what
we should do as individuals
is to use the power
of democracy that...
to make our voices heard
and to make sure that...
that the people in power
actually cannot continue
to ignore this.
That's powerful.
-(cheering and applause)
-Wow.
Do you...
Do you feel a difference
in the conversation
traveling from Sweden
to, um, America?
Is-is there a different feeling
around climate change?
Uh, I would say yes.
Um, because, here, it's...
it feels like it is being
discussed as something you--
whether you believe in
or not believe in.
-(chuckling, applause)
-And, uh...
where I come from,
where I come from,
it's more like...
it's a fact.
-And...
-(cheering and applause)
So then I-I have
to ask you this.
You sail from Europe
to New York City.
Um... New York City is, um,
quite an assault on the senses,
um, when you come
from anywhere else.
What is the biggest thing
that has stuck out to you
in New York City?
Uh, I mean, just everything.
All the impressions.
Everything is so much,
so big, so loud.
-And, uh...
-(laughter)
people talk so loud here
as well.
And, uh, because--
when you are on that boat,
when I was on that boat,
there is nothing.
There's just the ocean
and, uh, of course,
the sound of the waves crashing.
-But that's it.
-Mm-hmm.
No-no smells.
(laughter)
-A-Apart from sweat, but...
-(chuckles) Right.
So, I remember
the first thing I noticed
when I... when I--
when we came into the harbor
was I woke up and, suddenly,
it smelled something.
And, of course,
it-it was pollution.
But it's still something.
And that...
and that was...
It was i...
-undescribable, to...
-(laughter)
to-to go
from this extreme environment.
-You're disconnected from
everything and everyone. -Right.
You only have yourself
and the ocean
and the boat, of course,
um, to New York.
That is a-an accurate
and brilliant description
of New York.
It is undescribable
and it smells.
(laughter, applause)
-Yeah.
-I think that is fantastic.
-(cheering and applause)
-I'm excited for your journey.
I can't wait to see
what else you're gonna do.
-Thank you for making time
for us. -Thank you.
The next global climate strike
will be on Friday, September 20.
To find or register
your local strike,
go to FridaysForFuture.org.
Greta Thunberg, everybody.
