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#15009047

Greta’s very corporate children’s crusade

Behind the schoolgirl climate warrior lies a shadowy cabal of lobbyists, investors and energy companies seeking to profit from a green bonanza

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Greta Thunberg is just an ordinary 16-year-old Swedish schoolgirl whose fiery visions have convinced the parliaments of Britain and Ireland to declare a “climate emergency”. Greta’s parents, actor Svante Thunberg and opera singer Malena Ernman, are just an ordinary pair of parent-managers who want to save the planet. Query their motives, and you risk being accused of “climate denial”, or of bullying a vulnerable child with Asperger’s. But the Greta phenomenon has also involved green lobbyists, PR hustlers, eco-academics, and a think-tank founded by a wealthy ex-minister in Sweden’s Social Democratic government with links to the country’s energy companies. These companies are preparing for the biggest bonanza of government contracts in history: the greening of the Western economies. Greta, whether she and her parents know it or not, is the face of their political strategy. The family’s story is that Greta launched a one-girl “school strike” at the Swedish parliament on the morning of August 20, 2018. Ingmar Rentzhog, founder of the social media platform We Have No Time, happened to be passing. Inspired, Rentzhog posted Greta’s photograph on his personal Facebook page. By late afternoon, the newspaper Dagens Nyheter had Greta’s story and face on its website. The rest is viral.

But this isn’t the full story. In emails, media entrepeneur Rentzhog told me that he “met Greta for the first time” at the parliament, and that he “did not know Greta or Greta’s parents” before then. Yet in the same emails, Rentzhog admitted to meeting Greta’s mother Malena Ernman “3-4 months before everything started”—in early May 2018, when he and Malena had shared a stage at a conference called the Climate Parliament. Nor did Rentzhog stumble on Greta’s protest by accident. He now admits to having been informed “the week before” by “a mailing list from a climate activist” named Bo Thorén, leader of the Fossil Free Dalsland group.

Independent journalist Rebecca Weidmo Uvell has obtained an earlier email from Bo Thorén’s search for fresh green faces. In February 2018, Thorén invited a group of environmental activists, academics and politicians to plan “how we can involve and get help from young people to increase the pace of the transition to a sustainable society”. In May, after Greta won second prize in an environmental op-ed writing competition run by the newspaper Svenska Dagbladet, Thorén approached all the competition winners with a plan for a “school strike”, modelled on the student walk-outs after the shootings at Parkland, Florida. “But no one was interested,” Greta’s mother claims, “so Greta decided to do it for herself.” Fortunately, Greta’s decision coincided with the publication of Scenes from the Heart, Svante and Malena’s memoir of how saving the planet had saved their family. Unfortunately, Malena omitted to tell her publisher that Ingmar Rentzhog had commandeered Greta’s stunt. “We had a problem,” says Malena’s editor, Jonas Axelsson. “Journalists asked if it was promotion for the book. It wasn’t at all. It was a nightmare.” It was, however, a dream for Ingmar Rentzhog. When Rentzhog combined Thorén’s plan and Malena Ernman’s musical fame with Greta’s uncanny charisma and We Have No Time’s mailing list, he turned Greta into a viral celebrity. “I have not invented Greta,” Rentzhog insists, “but I helped to spread her action to an international audience.”

Trained by Al Gore’s Climate Reality Project, Rentzhog set up We Don’t Have Time in late 2017 to “hold leaders and companies accountable for climate change” by leveraging “the power of social media”. Rentzhog and his CEO David Olsson have backgrounds in finance, not environmental activism, Rentzhog as the founder of Laika, an investment relations company, and Olsson with Svenska Bostadsfonden, one of Sweden’s biggest real estate funds, whose board Rentzhog joined in June 2017. We Don’t Have Time’s investors included Gustav Stenbeck, whose family control Kinnevik, one of Sweden’s largest investment corporations. In May 2018, Rentzhog and Olsson of We Don’t Have Time became chairman and board member of a think-tank called Global Utmaning (Global Challenge). Its founder, Kristina Persson, is an heir to an industrial fortune. She is a career trade unionist and a Social Democrat politician going back to the party’s golden age under Olof Palme. She is also an ex-deputy governor of Sweden’s central bank and a New Ager who has discussed her reincarnations and communication with the dead. Between 2014 and 2016, Persson served as “Minister for the Future” in the Social Democratic government of Stefan Lofven.

Petter Skogar, president of Sweden’s biggest employer’s association, is on Global Challenge’s ten-person board. So is Johan Lindholm, chairman of the Union of Construction Workers and member of the Social Democrats’ executive board. So is Anders Wijkman, president of the Club of Rome, chair of the Environmental Objectives Council, and a recipient in February 2018 of Bo Thorén’s call for youth mobilisation. So is Catherina Nystedt Ringborg, former CEO of Swedish Water, advisor at the International Energy Agency, and former vice-president at Swedish-Swiss energy giant ABB. Catherina Ringborg is also a member of green energy venture capital firm Sustainable Energy Angels. Its members are a who’s who of the Swedish energy sector. Sustainable Energy Angels’ president and chair of investment committee are ex-ABB personnel, and so are four of its 17 members.

When Greta met Rentzhog, he was the salaried chairman of a private think-tank owned by an ex-Social Democrat minister with a background in the energy sector. His board was stacked with powerful sectoral interests, including career Social Democrats, major union leaders, and lobbyists with links to Brussels. And his board’s vice-chair was a member of one of Sweden’s most powerful green energy investment groups. Greta and her parents probably did not know this. Rentzhog seems to have wanted to keep it that way. On September 2, 2018, a week after Rentzhog claimed to have stumbled on Greta, Dagens Nyheter ran a long op-ed on the need to force the greening of the global economy by “bottom-up” action against national governments, including “broad social mobilisation . . . reminiscent of what takes place in communities threatened by war”. Greta’s mother was one of the nine signatories. Ex-Minister for the Future Kristina Persson and three other Global Challenge board members signed the op-ed but cited other affiliations. Only Rentzhog admitted that he was associated with Global Challenge. An English edition of the article identifies Rentzhog and Wijkman as its authors. Rentzhog claims that “many of us involved in Global Challenge were also involved” in writing it. He admits that he showed Malena Ernman “the article and the other signatures, but not their titles for Global Challenge”.

Greta’s father Svante, who now devotes himself to managing her career, declined my interview requests and refused to reply to a detailed list of written questions about Ingmar Rentzhog and Global Challenge. Instead, Svante issued an evasive three-paragraph statement through an intermediary. He says that “neither I nor Greta feel qualified to answer” questions about Rentzhog’s business connections, and when the family might have known about them. Svante also claims that “we have never worked with” We Have No Time or Global Challenge. Yet Greta served on We Have No Time’s advisory board between November 2018 and January 2019, and Malena Ernman signed a letter with four Global Challenge board members. When I asked Rentzhog if he had introduced Greta and her parents to other Global Challenge board members, he replied, “I don’t know, maybe I did, but if Svante says no, maybe it was not connected.” Svante refuses to answer my questions about whether he and Greta have met members of the Global Challenge board. But Global Challenge board member Anders Wijkman remembers.

Wijkman leads the anti-growth Club of Rome. Its alarmist 1972 report, A Limit to Growth?, has become a cornerstone of the “climate emergency” campaign. In December 2018, We Have No Time and Global Challenge launched the Club of Rome’s latest vision of apocalypse, the Climate Emergency Plan. Greta, Rentzhog told me, was invited to the launch event, but was unable to attend as she was already booked to deliver a TED Talk. The Climate Emergency Plan’s talking points are Greta’s talking points. “Around the year 2030, in ten years, 250 days, and ten hours,” the Scandinavian Cassandra told British parliamentarians, “we will be in a position where we set off an irreversible chain reaction beyond human control that will most likely lead to the end of our civilisation as we know it.” The only way to save ourselves is to follow the Climate Emergency Plan, and instantly green the global energy business through massive government investment and emergency legislation. Wijkman of the Club of Rome sees Greta as vital to pushing the “climate emergency” strategy on Europe’s political class.

“We had many scientist and climate researchers who’ve been speaking in terms of emergency for a number of years,” he told me, “but it’s only now, in the last couple of months, that the concept of emergency has been more or less accepted.” Greta, Wijkman says, has been “instrumental” to this breakthrough. “Young people seemed not to pay much attention only half a year ago, but now obviously they do. So she has been a lightning rod or catalyst of this.” Has Ingmar Rentzhog been essential to Greta’s rise? “Yes, yes,” Wijkman agrees, though he finds it hard to quantify. “I don’t know how much he’s been influential. I think that Greta and her father and mother are quite skilled.” Greta’s father Svante claims she “acts independently of any organisation or individual”. But Wijkman says Greta has “good advisers”, such as climate change professor Kevin Anderson. Anderson claims only to “discuss” Greta’s ideas and “correct” her manuscripts.“I know that he has given her a lot of advice in terms of substance,” Wijkman says.

In January, Rentzhog and We Have No Time used Greta’s face and story in promotional materials for a share issue for a new venture. Rentzhog claimed that the family knew, but Greta and her parents parents insisted that they did not. They announced that their association with Rentzhog was over—a curious statement, considering that Svante claims they had never associated with him in the first place. Greta’s new press agent, Daniel Donner, works from the office of a Brussels lobby group, the European Climate Foundation. Still, We Don’t Have Time retweet Greta as if nothing has changed. In a way, nothing has.

Whatever Greta or her parents know or think, her eco-mob increases the likelihood of legislation and investment that will make colossal profits for people like Global Challenge, We Don’t Have Time and Sustainable Energy Angels. For Sweden’s energy titans, saving the planet means government contracts to print the green stuff. Green energy lobbyists use populist scare tactics and a children’s crusade to bypass elected representatives, but their goal is technocracy not democracy, profit not redistribution. Greta, a child of woke capitalism, is being used to ease the transition to green corporatism.

#15011975
This is really one of the things that everybody overlooks: many people stand to profit from any political decision.

This reminds me of how the French posed as great defenders of peace and altruists in their opposition to the Iraq war, but simultaneously they were one of the countries making absurd amounts of money through oil deals. While it can be said that there was a 'war for oil' lobby, there was also a 'peace for oil' one.
#15031145
*bump*

I think someone should say something here. She did sail to NY in a boat after all. A passing comment on her tenacity is in order at the very least.
#15031147
I think what she's doing takes a lot of steel so I respect her for that. Stepping out into the forefront of a movement and taking a stand on a highly contentious and polarizing issue is no small thing for anyone let alone a kid. It's just too bad she wound up on the side of the lying babbitts dinks, the cause of reason and liberty could really use that kind of courage.
#15031150
it’s apocalyptic to them :|

Let’s remove the politics for a sec and go on what we know for sure. The degradation of the oceans, the micro plastics, the rubbish island in the Pacific, the rate of animal extinctions, a growing human population and continuing damage to the ozone. It doesn’t look great :hmm: Not to mention that the ‘adults’ can’t seem to get their shit together on what to do.

There is alarmism going on and it’s function is to quite obviously to push a ‘green agenda’;but there is also plenty of inaction and destruction too. Personally I find it hard to justify any further encroachment on wild habitats.

Where I live, some arsehole developer built an ugly estate on wetlands which was home to birds and frogs and an entirely independent ecology. This isn’t an isolated incident. Foreign companies come through in the bush and do illegal land clearings. It’s like a cancer. And I know how we treat cancer. We nuke it :|
#15031157
ness31 wrote:it’s apocalyptic to them :|


Yeah, well that's not my problem. I didn't make them idiots. I don't care what their deal is, they're dangerous idiots and they're not imposing their idiocy on me.


Let’s remove the politics for a sec and go on what we know for sure. The degradation of the oceans, the micro plastics, the rubbish island in the Pacific, the rate of animal extinctions, a growing human population and continuing damage to the ozone. It doesn’t look great :hmm: Not to mention that the ‘adults’ can’t seem to get their shit together on what to do.

There is alarmism going on and it’s function is to quite obviously to push a ‘green agenda’;but there is also plenty of inaction and destruction too. Personally I find it hard to justify any further encroachment on wild habitats.

Where I live, some arsehole developer built an ugly estate on wetlands which was home to birds and frogs and an entirely independent ecology. This isn’t an isolated incident. Foreign companies come through in the bush and do illegal land clearings. It’s like a cancer. And I know how we treat cancer. We nuke it :|


Accelerated technological advancement is the only way to save it. You want to save nature then your primary issue should be increasing state funding for r&d into new technologies.
#15031169
She is a poor intelligent girl who's views are interesting, and I'm sure she likes travelling all over the world. But yeah, it's sad she's not being allowed to have a normal boring childhood like the rest of us do.

Her Parents remind me of Michael Jackson's dad Joe Jackson.
#15031197
She needs as all politicians and activists need to be asked do you denounce, the vile hypocrites like Megan Markle, who jet around the world living a life a of luxury, while lecturing the rest of us on Green moralism. At a minimum she should be stripped of her title and he husband and children be removed from the succession.
#15031255
I don’t like the fact she’s been diagnosed with Aspergers. She’s just a bright girl with quirks. No need for a label.

I wonder what her deficiencies are? She has after all been diagnosed with a text book mental illness. It’s just not right :hmm:
#15031352
Kaiserschmarrn wrote:I think it's a very smart move but also a very cynical ploy to put a teenager with Asperger's into this position.


I don't think anyone put her there other than her ridiculous amounts of popularity.

And popularity is up to the individual and circumstance.
#15032230
Kaiserschmarrn wrote:I think it's a very smart move but also a very cynical ploy to put a teenager with Asperger's into this position.



That may be the case. It is a rather slimy, but typically progressive, thing to do. On the other hand, plenty of famous people did their stuff when they were teens. Quite possibly the progressives could be called out on using a teenager to advance their agenda and thus delegitimise any critics. But I must say the young lady’s determination is admirable.

Rugoz wrote:And not a flying shit was given.

Renewable energy becoming a big business is the goal.


Sure, but given this is big business, one would hope those businesses would provide suitable compensation for the teenager who has promoted their brand.
#15032791
ness31 wrote:I don’t like the fact she’s been diagnosed with Aspergers. She’s just a bright girl with quirks. No need for a label.

I wonder what her deficiencies are? She has after all been diagnosed with a text book mental illness. It’s just not right :hmm:

As far as I know, her diagnoses are Asperger's (now ASD), OCD and selective mutism. She might also have an eating disorder, as she has in the past stopped eating altogether for 2 months. With ASD can come a variety of difficulties, e.g. digestive issues, low tolerance with the sensory environment/crowds, high anxiety, coordination problems/clumsiness. I don't know if she has any of those.

She also seems to have been told that she is not ill but has "superpowers". I've come across quite a few parents who tell their children that, but it doesn't make her any less ill and hence vulnerable. Her current view is that she has found meaning in saving the planet and that's why she is so much better.

As for the usefulness of labels, they will enable her to go to a special school or get support so that her "quirks" can be accommodated to some extent in school and other activities.

I'm not convinced she is well served with this global saviour role, but as it is with phenomena like that she'll be forgotten soon enough and we'll probably never know if this was a good idea or not.

foxdemon wrote:That may be the case. It is a rather slimy, but typically progressive, thing to do. On the other hand, plenty of famous people did their stuff when they were teens. Quite possibly the progressives could be called out on using a teenager to advance their agenda and thus delegitimise any critics.

Not sure if it is typically progressive, although the adulation and her stratospheric rise have been something else. I can imagine a similar girl who was adopted and goes around making the case against abortion. She would probably get a warm reception among conservatives while progressives might switch too and find it inappropriate.

foxdemon wrote:But I must say the young lady’s determination is admirable.

I agree, although it is quite likely to some extent a function of her illnesses (ASD and/or OCD).
#15032845
Kaiserschmarrn wrote:I'm not convinced she is well served with this global saviour role,

May be not, but even with her severe mental disorders, youth and inexperience, she sure is a better role model for environmentalism than Megan Markle and all the rest of Holywood Social Justice Warrior friends.
#15034069
We live in a capitalist economy , so of course the "green economy " is going to be characterized by corporate investment . I really don't see what the issue is . Oh , and if she were to be an open advocate of eco-socialism , I am sure that the same sort of naysayers would be making the point that enviromentalists like her are crypto-communists , whom are using the issue of global warming to serve a hidden agenda . I am not entirely sure what her political views are , and whether she supports the Left Party , or maybe the Green Party , but I do know that her political opinions , or for that matter her neurotype , should not matter . All those who ad hominem her are simply engaging in Bulverism .
#15034188
Did anyone question the source and its claims?

https://www.google.com/amp/s/mediabiasf ... ine/%3famp

"Extreme right".

It's true that banks, big finance want to capitalise on green bonds, and that there's a lot of bluster and lies coming from the big corporates.

But the pretty rough impugnation and withering attacks on what she's doing, when she's just a nice, bright 16 year old who's trying to make a difference in her own - perhaps not very significant - way, is just wrong IMHO.

And if big business helps us save the planet from climate apocalypse, then that's better than continuing with the status quo.

If we're all dead, there's no possibility of m-leninism/trotskyism/libertarianism/neoliberalism/whatever your personal ideology is.

So really, we all have a stake in saving the planet. And if she raises awareness with what's let's face it, a big publicity stunt, then we might all be better off for it. Really no point in having a go at her IMHO.

Save your withering attacks for the coked up nutters like Bolsonaro who dgaf if they kill us all.
#15034209
Why ... yes.

If we would start fighting climate change, that would indeed create a SHITTON of jobs.

Many more jobs than would be lost in the energy sector at the same time.

I fail to see how saving the only planet we have is a bad thing though. Quite frankly I would actually assume thats something we would sacrifice a lot for. Given that we completely depend upon having this platform and so far not even a candidate for another planet we could settle on, let alone the means to get to such a planet.

This seems to me as a typical piece of misleading propaganda that you would typically get from the energy sector. After all, they would lose a LOT of profit if alternative sources of energy would be exploited.
#15034533
New climate models unveiled by French researchers Tuesday showed Earth's average temperature could rise a "terrifying" 6.5-7.0°C above pre-industrial levels by the end of the century if dramatic action is not immediately taken to slash carbon emissions.

Jusqu’à + 7 °C en 2100 : les experts français du climat aggravent leurs projections sur le réchauffement

Trump and his cohorts want to burn the Earth.

I'm too old to have to fear any consequences, but most of you will get a first hand experience of hell.
#15034981
Greta's crusade on behalf of the corporate globalist elite reminds me of other child crusaders who were cynically used to promote other horrible corporate globalist elite agendas.

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Bana of Allepo, the 7 year old who was used to promote the Syrian conflict and attempted overthrow of Assad.

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Jazz Jennings, who is used to promote the child tranny movement.

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Parkland students, who were used to promoted anti-2nd amendment agenda, LGBT and anti-white extremism.

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"Nurse" Nariyah, the 15 year old who was used to promote the Gulf War.
Last edited by maz on 21 Sep 2019 03:55, edited 1 time in total.
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