'Cult Hysteria': Greta Thunberg Sparks Fury by Calling UK 'One of Biggest Climate Villains'

Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg held court at the Youth4Climate summit in Milan on Tuesday and accused world leaders of “betraying” current and future generations with their climate change inaction.

Greta Thunberg’s poignant accusations against the UK – which she blasted as a “climate villain” – have whipped up a storm of fury on social media as the young activist said that the country bears “enormous historical responsibility” for environmental issues due to launching the industrial revolution.

Speaking to Sky News from the Youth4Climate summit, Thunberg said that the UK’s approval of new drilling permissions in the North Sea was “a textbook example of hypocrisy” with Scotland set to host the upcoming UN climate summit in Glasgow.

"Of course, the climate crisis… more or less it started in the UK since that's where the industrial revolution started, we started to burn coal there, so of course the UK has an enormous historical responsibility when it comes to historic emissions since the climate crisis is a cumulative crisis,” the 18-year-old environmentalist argued.

Environmental activists Greta Thunberg has accused the British government of being "climate villains".

Citing the industrial revolution, Thunberg added "the UK has an enormous historical responsibility... since the climate crisis is a cumulative crisis."https://t.co/ngi0Wx5ZEl pic.twitter.com/mmSdtyAQjR

— Sky News (@SkyNews) September 29, 2021

Thunberg also accused the UK of pretending to be a “climate leader” while engaging in so-called “creative carbon accounting” by not properly counting emissions from fossil fuels or aviation.

"I find it very strange that they're like, they are the ones who we are supposed to look up to now, but they are objectively one of the biggest climate villains, which I find very strange.”

Greta Thunberg

Climate activist

The activist’s words have enraged many on social media. “This endless historical revisionism makes me sick. Britain contributed to the advancement of the world. Industrialisation dragged us out of the dark ages & made us global pioneers,” Martin Daubney, deputy leader of the Reclaim Party, raged on Twitter. “We gave these gifts to the world. We should be thanked, not damned, for the Industrial Revolution.”

“Unbelievable. Britain objectively accounts for just 1 percent of global emissions (China = 29 percent). Yet, Thunberg brands the UK a 'climate villain' — the sooner we take on this cult like hysteria, the better,” journalist Tom Bewick chimed in.

This endless historical revisionism makes me sick. Britain contributed to the advancement of the world. Industrialisation dragged us out of the dark ages & made us global pioneers. We gave these gifts to the world. We should be thanked, not damned, for the Industrial Revolution

— Martin Daubney ✌🏻🇬🇧 (@MartinDaubney) September 29, 2021

Unbelievable. Britain objectively accounts for just 1% of global emissions (China = 29%). Yet, Thunberg brands the U.K. a “climate villain” — the sooner we take on this cult like hysteria, the better. This debate needs less heat, more light.

— Tom Bewick (@TomBewick) September 29, 2021

Not entirely sure who she is or why anyone listens to her. Can she tell anyone what the real numbers are or is she just there to criticise everyone etc etc

— Andrew Peters (@andrpeters) September 29, 2021

How can you blame a person or country for an issue that was not known at the time. Now government powers are educated on the matter and are changing surely this is a good thing. Or do people just love to dig up the past of Britain to slag it off?

— Will Woodhall (@woodhall_w) September 29, 2021

Likes to pick on the UK doesn't she. Seems to ignore the bigger climate 'Villains' around the world. Wonder why

— Mark Pattersøn (@patthegooner) September 29, 2021

During her Tuesday address in Milan, Thunberg accused world leaders of an “intentional lack of action” in relation to climate change said they had betrayed “all present and future generations.”

She also mocked politicians' environmental appeals, which she slammed as "blah blah blah" – presumably taking aim at UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s address during the virtual climate summit in April, as British media pointed out.