London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Sep 18, 2025

Biden not a 'leader' on climate change, Greta Thunberg suggests

Biden not a 'leader' on climate change, Greta Thunberg suggests

Persident Biden's administration is not leading on the climate issue, activist Greta Thunberg suggested in an inteview with The Washington Post.

Leading climate activist Greta Thunberg is criticizing President Biden, suggesting he's not acting like a leader on the issue.

Her comments came during an interview with The Washington Post, which asked: "Are you inspired by any of the world leaders, by President Biden?"

Thunberg responded: "If you call him a leader — I mean, it’s strange that people think of Joe Biden as a leader for the climate when you see what his administration is doing."

Climate activist Greta Thunberg speaks at the "Fridays For Future" climate rally during COP26 on Nov. 5, 2021 in Glasgow, Scotland.


"The U.S. is actually expanding fossil fuel infrastructure," she added. "Why is the U.S. doing that? It should not fall on us activists and teenagers who just want to go to school to raise this awareness and to inform people that we are actually facing an emergency."

Published Monday, Thunberg's interview comes after Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., effectively sunk Democratic hopes for passing the Build Back Better package, which contained controversial climate measures. Biden encountered scrutiny from both sides when he campaigned for president and has provoked criticism for purportedly going too far left on the issue.

President Biden exits Air Force One at Capital Region International Airport, Oct. 5, 2021, in Lansing, Michigan.


Earlier this month, he signed an executive order directing the federal government to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. He also rejoined the Paris Climate Agreement, and attempted to pause oil and gas leases but was blocked by a federal judge.

Amid economic uncertainty, Biden tapped the U.S.'s strategic oil reserves in November. During that month, his administration also opened more than 80 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico for oil and gas drilling.

The White House did not immediately respond to Fox News' request for comment.

Thunberg's criticism wasn't limited to Biden. During her interview, she also took aim at the COP26 climate summit that took place last month.

"Well, in the final document, they succeeded in even watering down the blah, blah, blah," she said. "Which is very much an achievement, if you see it that way. Of course it’s a step forward that, instead of coming back every five years, they’re doing it every year now. But still, that doesn’t mean anything unless that actually leads to increased ambition and if they actually fulfill those ambitions."

Climate activist Greta Thunberg joins demonstrators during the Fridays For Future COP26 Scotland March on Nov. 5, 2021 in Glasgow, Scotland. 


When asked for specifics, she said: "As we all know, or as we might know, the so-called ‘f-word’ was included for the first time in this document: fossil fuel. Which makes you wonder what they have been doing these decades without even mentioning fossil fuels for a problem which, to a very, very large extent, is caused by fossil fuels. And instead of ‘phasing out’ [coal, the document’s language became] ‘phasing down.’ So, yeah, that is one very clear example."

Thunberg isn't the only one to raise questions about whether the world can meet goals outlined by environmental advocates.

At the end of 2019, the United Nations offered what it called "bleak" findings as it warned that the world was headed toward global "extinction" and would need to increase its efforts "fivefold" to achieve Paris' goals. Its 2020 Emissions Gap report noted a decline in emissions during the COVID-19 pandemic, but similarly urged bold action to address the climate.

The International Energy Agency has also raised concerns but remained optimistic in a report earlier this year.

"Despite the current gap between rhetoric and reality on emissions, our roadmap shows that there are still pathways to reach net zero by 2050. The one on which we focus is – in our analysis – the most technically feasible, cost‐effective and socially acceptable," the IEA report read.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Massive Strikes in France Pressure Macron and New PM on Austerity Proposals
Trump Seeks Supreme Court Permission to Remove Fed Governor Lisa Cook
Hillary Clinton’s Reckless Rhetoric Fuels Division After Charlie Kirk’s Assassination
NASDAQ Rises to Record as Intel Soars More Than 20%, Nvidia Gains 3%
Nvidia’s $5 Billion Bet on Intel Reshapes AI Hardware Landscape
Trump and Starmer Clash Over UK Recognition of Palestinian State Amid State Visit
Trump’s Quip on Biden and Google Lawsuit Revives Debate Over Antitrust Legacy
Macron and his wife to provide 'scientific photographic evidence' that she is a real woman
US Tech Giants Pledge Billions to UK AI Infrastructure Following Starmer's Call
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
DeepMind and OpenAI Achieve Gold at ‘Coding Olympics’ in AI Milestone
SEC Allows Public Companies to Block Investors from Class-Action Lawsuits
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Federal Reserve Cuts Rates by Quarter Point and Signals More to Come
Effective and Impressive Generation Z Protest: Images from the Riots in Nepal
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Trump: Cancel quarterly company reports and settle for reporting once every six months
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
US Launches New Pilot Program to Accelerate eVTOL Air Taxi Deployment
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
×