Greta’s World

There is persona and there is reality in Greta Thunberg. It is Valentine’s Day in her hometown of Stockholm, but there’s only wind, no hearts and flowers. A few hundred kids mill about, with a smattering of adults. If there were not signs reading “Our Earth, We Only Have One,” it could be mistaken for a field trip to the ABBA museum.

Greta Thunberg.

But where is Greta? I find a scrum of reporters interviewing a child in a purple puffer jacket, pink mittens, and a homemade-looking knit hat. It takes me a minute to realize that it’s Greta. She is 17, but could pass for 12. I can’t quite square the fiery speaker with the micro teen in front of me. She seems in need of protection.

Of course, this is emphatically wrong. Greta Thunberg has Asperger’s, which, she says, gives her pinpoint focus on climate minutiae while parrying and discarding even the smallest attempt at flattery. We stand near the Swedish Parliament house, where less than two years ago Thunberg started her Skolstrejk för klimatet, School Strike for Climate.

Read the story from Rolling Stone by Stephen Rodrick - “Greta’s World.”

Stockholm city leaders 'blow past' ambitious global emissions target

At the recent Paris climate summit, world leaders set an ambitious global target: no net carbon emissions by mid-century. That means all of the carbon we burn from fossil fuels must be absorbed by the world’s forests and oceans. Achieving that — well, easier said than done.

Yet, in the city of Stockholm, city leaders are looking to blow past that goal — they want to be a completely fossil fuel free city by the year 2040. That presents a major transportation and urban planning challenge, but the city is already well on its way. It's getting there through a series of carrots and sticks.

Read the PRI.org story - “Sweden's capital is on its way to becoming fossil fuel free by 2040.”