Stop creating a generation of depressed, French minister urges Greta Thunberg

Published time: 24 Sep, 2019 10:16Edited time: 24 Sep, 2019 10:18

Get short URL

Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg speaks during the Climate Action Summit at United Nations HQ in the Manhattan borough of New York, September 23, 2019. © REUTERS/Carlo Allegri 

France’s Education Minister looked quite annoyed by Greta Thunberg when he was asked about her in a TV interview, and said she should stop stimulating depression over climate change.

Jean-Michel Blanquer said he was not sure if Thunberg had been manipulated by someone after her performance at the United Nations, but what he was sure of was that he wants her to stop being so bleak and making everyone miserable.

“One shouldn’t create the generation of people depressed over the subject of climate change,” he said, and urged her to spend time on finding constructive solutions instead.

Thunberg’s fiery speech at the UN accused world leaders of stealing her dreams and her childhood and of caring more about money.

ALSO ON RT.COMClimate change cultists filling their followers with anxiety: How long before the suicides start?

Blanquer said the activist elicited a combination of sympathy and vigilance from him. “Sympathy -- because the cause is good,” he explained, “but we need to pull through this crying afoul mode.”

The minister also hit back on Thunberg’s attack on the world’s major economies, including France, over their alleged inaction on the climate crisis. “France is the ‘locomotive’ in the battle against climate change. We need to be supported and not judged.” he said.

ALSO ON RT.COMThunberg vs Trump: Showdown at UNGA sparks memes & snark

On Monday, Greta Thunberg and 15 other child activists filed a complaint with the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child to protest government inaction on the climate crisis.

The French Education Minister doesn’t seem to be alone in calling out Thunberg’s lack of cheer. In an apparent jab at her, Donald Trump tweeted she looked like a “very happy girl,” alongside a clip of her 'angry' address before the UN.