Greta Thunberg laughs at protesters still participating in Fridays For Future - the climate movement she started before focusing on Gaza: 'They're still doing that?!'

In a newly released documentary titled 'On Tanks into the Climate Crisis – How Activism is Criminalised', the 23-year-old Swedish activist appeared visibly surprised when informed about a Fridays for Future demonstration taking place in Berlin. 'Is it?' she asked before bursting into loud laughter. 'Really? They still do that?' she shrieked, with an activist friend beside her joining in the laughter before Thunberg shouted 'Cut!' to the camera.

Climate Movement Origins

Fridays for Future was launched by Thunberg in 2018 when she was just 15 years old, after she began skipping school on Fridays to demand action on climate change. What began as a solo protest in Sweden quickly snowballed into a global movement, inspiring millions of students worldwide to walk out of classrooms and participate in climate rallies.

Shift in Activism

Thunberg first rose to fame as the face of the youth climate movement, but in recent years her activism has increasingly shifted toward vocal support for the pro-Palestinian cause. Last winter, she was arrested in central London at a protest supporting jailed Palestine Action protesters on hunger strike, holding a sign that read 'I support Palestine Action prisoners, I oppose genocide'.

She has also been detained twice by Israeli forces - once last June while onboard a ship headed for the Palestinian state, and again when warships intercepted an aid flotilla she was on that was headed for Gaza. Most recently, she publicly supported rapper Macklemore after he was dropped from Ed Sheeran's tour for making pro-Palestine statements.

Backlash and Defense

Following her comments appearing to mock climate protesters, Thunberg has faced strong backlash online. Critics accused her of abandoning the climate cause, with one person commenting: 'Climate was just the warm-up. Hating Israel is the real job.' Another added: 'It suddenly isn't a problem anymore. So much for climate 'emergency'. Just shows the credibility that she has.'

However, some have come to her defense, arguing she was mocking the protests for not being 'radical' enough. 'The point is that she finds the FFF protest too nice, too conformist and too middle-class. She laughs at its lack of radicalism,' one X user commented.

Return to Climate Talks

Thunberg arrived at UN climate talks on Tuesday in Antalya, Turkey, in her first appearance since the 2021 talks in Glasgow where she went viral for dismissing world leaders' promises as 'blah, blah, blah.' The COP31 conference comes after a year of deadly climate-related disasters and an energy shock caused by the Iran war.

Thunberg criticized the conference hosts, Turkey and Australia, for promoting renewable energy while still relying heavily on fossil fuels. 'It's a hypocrisy every year that the host countries are given an opportunity to whitewash themselves and we know that these negotiations are filled with lobbyists, paid by the very destructive industries which are benefiting from our extremely violent status quo,' she said.

Climate change is 'threatening everything,' Thunberg warned, stating that 'everything and everyone we love is at stake.' She added that societies should 'act to protect and benefit people rather than constantly sacrificing the global majority and the very planet we are all living on, for a fortunate few to keep making unimaginable profits and maintaining geopolitical power.'