Greta Thunberg is probably one of very few teenagers who knows what it’s like to be criticised by the leaders of the world’s most powerful countries, but she doesn’t seem to be short on comebacks.
Speaking at an energy forum on Wednesday,
Russian President Vladimir Putin said he did not share the excitement surrounding the teen climate activist’s impassioned address at the
United Nations Climate Action Summit last month, in which she deplored world leaders for not doing enough to combat climate change.
“I’m sure that Greta is a very kind and sincere girl,” he said, but suggested that she had been poorly informed about the workings of the world.
“No one has explained to Greta that the modern world is complex and changes fast... people in Africa or in many Asian countries want to live at the same wealth level as in Sweden.”
He said the fact young people paid attention to the acute problems of the modern world should be supported, but when someone “used children and teenagers” to serve their own interests, it should be condemned.
Not-so-coincidentally, shortly after the Russian leader’s comments, Thunberg’s
Twitter bio was changed to read: “A kind but poorly informed teenager.” The teen activist’s bio used to read “a very happy young girl looking forward to a bright and wonderful future,” which just so happens to replicate the description given of her by President
Donald Trump in a sarcastic tweet.
What will Thunberg’s bio say next?