On January 12, 2026, at the United Nations High-Level Forum on Climate Justice in Geneva, Greta Thunberg delivered what many are calling the most powerful speech of her career. The 23-year-old Swedish activist, once synonymous with school strikes and “How dare you,” deliberately stepped away from carbon targets and net-zero deadlines. Instead, she turned the global spotlight onto survivors of abuse and exploitation—particularly those whose stories have been overshadowed by powerful institutions and media cycles.
Speaking to an audience of world leaders, diplomats, and climate negotiators, Thunberg began quietly: “We talk endlessly about saving the planet, but we rarely speak about saving the people already broken by the systems we claim to fight.” She then pivoted to the recent posthumous release of Virginia Giuffre’s memoir, Nobody’s Girl, calling it “a document more urgent than any IPCC report.” Thunberg described Giuffre’s account—of childhood abuse, grooming at 16, trafficking into Jeffrey Epstein’s network, and alleged encounters with figures like Prince Andrew—as evidence of how power protects predators while silencing victims.
The room, usually filled with polite applause and side conversations, fell completely silent as Thunberg read excerpts from the book. She highlighted Giuffre’s description of being trapped on “Paedo Island,” the physical and psychological scars, and the systemic failures that allowed such abuse to continue unchecked for years. “This is not a distraction from climate justice,” Thunberg said. “This is climate justice. The same structures that exploit the Earth exploit the most vulnerable among us—girls, women, children, Indigenous communities, the poor. They are the first victims of unchecked power, whether that power is fossil fuel wealth or elite impunity.”
She drew direct parallels: the way oil companies lobby to delay emissions cuts mirrors the way institutions shield abusers through NDAs, legal threats, and public relations. “We demand accountability for greenhouse gases,” she declared, “but we still hesitate when the crime is the destruction of a human life.”
The speech lasted just under 12 minutes, yet its impact was immediate and profound. No one clapped at the end. Delegates sat motionless; several wiped tears. Social media erupted within minutes, with #ListenToSurvivors trending worldwide. Thunberg later posted a single sentence on X: “The silence in that room was louder than any protest I’ve ever joined.”
Critics accused her of derailing the climate agenda; supporters praised her for expanding it. By centering survivors, Thunberg reminded the world that true justice—for the planet and its people—cannot coexist with silence. In shifting the spotlight, she did not abandon climate; she made it unmistakably human.
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