Teen activist’s #HowDareYou viral speech rips at world leaders

When 16-year-old climate warrior Greta Thunberg said #HowDareYou at the United Nations (U.N.), she gave a room full of world leaders a dressing down for their inaction.

“This is all wrong,” she stated, her voice trembling. “I shouldn’t be up here. I should be back in school on the other side of the ocean, yet you all come to us young people for hope.” Then came the battle-cry heard around the world, three words that were soon trending worldwide: “How dare you.”

The tremendous impact of Thunberg’s speech was only further amplified by footage and photographs depicting the young activist giving an all-time death stare to US President Donald Trump, a climate emergency denier, in what some are calling “the photo of our times.”

On social media, users expressed a mix of pride, admiration, shame and frustration – with an underlying consensus that Thunberg’s speech will be looked back on as a historic moment.

Soon after her speech went viral, actress Priyanka Chopra hailed the young activist for her questions, replying, “How dare we fail you… and what audacity we have to not want to help you save what’s left.” She shared glimpses of Greta’s speeches, adding, “Thank you @gretathunberg for giving us the much-needed punch in the face, for bringing your generation together and showing us that we need to know better, do more to save what is most critical. At the end of the day, we only have this one planet. #howdareyou”.

Hollywood actor Leonardo DiCaprio also shared Greta’s speech on his Instagram page. Bollywood actress Alia Bhatt also took to social media to share the fiery speech, with the caption, “Listen. Learn. Think. Act!! @gretathunberg”.

While the U.S. will not be participating in the U.N.’s climate summit, China and roughly 70 other countries are expected to make announcements concerning further action on climate change. The summit followed a worldwide Youth Climate Strike on Friday, which saw millions of young people around the world – including in every major Australian city – demanding action to address the climate crisis.