Thunberg in Tbilisi: ”Climate Activism and Human Rights Are United”

After a long journey across Europe, Greta Thunberg has arrived in the protest-filled Georgia. Over a pizza, she tells Rasmus Canbäck about her criticism of the upcoming COP29 climate summit in Azerbaijan, her own journey as an activist, and how the climate summit risks becoming a political tool in the hands of regimes that violate human rights.

Av 5 november, 2024

Outside the café, busloads of riot police drive past on their way to the parliament. In a few hours, images of protesters will be broadcast around the world. One of them will be Greta Thunberg, though for now, few people know she is in Georgia.

”I’ve traveled here from Stockholm, crossing the continent. It’s been an amazing experience where I’ve been able to stop in many different countries, meet local activists, and learn about different local and national political contexts. I’m very grateful to be making this journey,” she says, listing the countries she traveled through: Hungary, Bulgaria, and Turkey, among others.

”The interesting thing is that the more authoritarian a country is, the more the people seem to show their best sides.”

She is almost at her final destination—or as close to it as she can get. Azerbaijan, where the COP29 climate summit will be held, has closed land borders. Until recently, this was formally due to COVID restrictions. Now the regime claims it is a matter of security. Greta Thunberg has a principle of never flying, which means she cannot enter the closed dictatorship.

”The population in Azerbaijan is trapped. They can’t travel in or out of the country except through the airport. Even if I could go there, I wouldn’t. I don’t want to legitimize the regime,” Greta Thunberg explains.

She has no expectations for the climate summit, either.

”The only thing that will come out of it is loopholes, more negotiations, and symbolic decisions that look good on paper but are really just greenwashing,” says the now 21-year-old Greta Thunberg.

The plan is to stay in Georgia until COP29 begins. After that, she will travel on to Armenia.

”I don’t know how long I’ll stay there. But every day, five different things come up that completely change the situation, and I have to adapt to them. I’m taking it one day at a time.”

Rasmus Canbäck