No One is Too Small to Make a Difference by Greta Thunberg

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This is an attractive book, the speeches at mostly 3 or 4 pages long, with plenty of pictures in between.

As Greta has travelled she has, in essence, been making the same speech, the same point. Therefore as a collection one might feel it is repetitive – but that this is probably a grossly myopic comment – this is not a retrospective collection of speeches given over a lifetime it is published as part of ongoing active campaign.

I think I have been long aware of need to act to counter climate change so I was surprised that even for me these were a bit of a sucker punch. I probably talk the talk but do I really walk the walk on changing lifestyle in the interests of the climate? The power of her direct address making it very hard to pretend that she is talking to “other people” - Greta is looking you in the eye and asking what the hell you are doing?

How will COVID change this conversation? With politicians lining up to be “guided by the science” there is an opportunity to hold them to account to place equal weight on the climate science. And the ability for populations to accept massive shifts in working patterns and behaviours can also be played back – the quickest way to cut the carbon footprint of your daily commute is to work from home! It will be interesting to see how that plays out, and for the sake of the planet I hope it plays out well.