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Learn more about the environment
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Try more episodes of 6 Minute English:

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Introduction

Climate change is worrying for everyone, but especially for young people. Neil and Beth discuss this and teach you some useful vocabulary.

This week's question

How did Greta Thunberg’s climate activism begin? Did she:

a) plant trees in her school garden?
b) skip school on Fridays? or,
c) recycle her school’s plastic waste?

Listen to the programme to hear the answer.

Vocabulary

climate anxiety
feeling worried, afraid or depressed because of global climate change

parasite
animal or plant that lives on/in another living creature and feeds from it; person who is lazy and lives off other people who support them or give them money

freaks (me) out
causes (me) to become very emotional, upset, angry or confused

one in a million
extremely special, rare or unlikely

put (something) off
delay doing something until a later time

push (something) away
decide to forget about or ignore something

TRANSCRIPT

Note: This is not a word-for-word transcript.

Neil
Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I’m Neil.

Beth
And I’m Beth.

Neil
Many of those leading the fight against climate change are young people who feel betrayed by politicians and adults. In survey after survey, children report feeling that they have no future, that humanity is doomed, and that governments are failing to act.

Beth
This is causing many young people to feel worried about the state of the planet. There’s even a name for it – climate anxiety. And it’s also creating conflict between adults and children in families and schools. 

Neil
What’s certain is that a solution to the climate emergency needs the cooperation of everyone, both old and young. So, can talking honestly about the climate help mend the divisions between generations? That’s what we’ll be discussing in this programme, along with some useful new vocabulary.

Beth
But first I have a question for you, Neil.  Many young people’s hopes and fears about climate change are symbolised by the Swedish activist, Greta Thunberg. These days Greta travels the world speaking about the climate emergency, but her protests started much smaller, in her hometown, Stockholm. So how did Greta Thunberg’s climate activism begin? Did she:

a)    plant trees in her school garden?
b)    skip school on Fridays? or,
c)    recycle her school’s plastic waste?

Neil
Hmmm, I think Greta Thunberg went on strike and skipped school on Fridays.

Beth
OK, Neil, I’ll reveal the correct answer later in the programme.  One recent survey showed that three-quarters or more of young people in the UK feel the future is frightening. Here, Immie, aged 14, and Milly, 11, share some of their fears with BBC Ideas:

Immie
If climate change were, like, an animal or plant, I think it'd be some sort of parasite, because it's the only thing that's actually growing and getting bigger, while everything else starts dying off. I think climate change is, like, really scary. And the fact that lots of people aren't doing much about it, just sort of freaks me out.

Milly
The environment is definitely very special because if we get rid of it, there's nowhere else we can go. It's a very one in a million, sort of, planet.

Neil
Immie calls climate change a parasite. In the natural world, a parasite is an animal or plant that lives on another living thing and feeds from it. If you describe a person as a parasite, you mean they are lazy and live off other people supporting them or giving them money.

Beth
Likewise, Immie thinks climate change is sucking the goodness out of the planet, and she uses a slang idiom to describe her feelings – it freaks me out! If something freaks you out, it makes you become very emotional, upset or confused.

Neil
Milly agrees. What freaks her out is that governments don’t seem to be doing much about the problem. It’s not as if we can escape anywhere – humankind only has one home, planet earth. Millie calls Earth one in a million, meaning very special or rare. So, what can be done? Psychotherapist, Caroline Hickman, has visited 10 countries around the world talking to over 100,000 teenagers about their climate fears. They told her about parents ignoring them when they wanted to discuss their feelings, and adults telling them, ‘Fixing the planet is your job now!’ Here, she gives BBC Ideas some advice on discussing climate change with children:

Caroline Hickman
My advice to adults, parents, teachers, is do not put it off, don't push it away. Don't save it up and just have that big conversation. Talk about it regularly. That's crucial. And it's OK for you to say to your children, "I don't have all the answers. We're not sure exactly how to deal with all of this. But let's find out together."

Beth
Caroline’s top tip is to discuss the climate crisis regularly, to talk with children about their climate fears and not put it off – not delay talking about it until later.

Neil
Caroline also advises parents not to push it away, to choose to forget about or ignore the subject. A better response is to tell kids honestly, ‘We don’t have all the answers, but by sharing ideas we can work things out together’ - a more hopeful message, and one that’s shared by climate champion, Greta Thunberg.

Beth
Yes, and it’s time to reveal the answer to my question – how did Greta Thunberg’s climate activism begin, Neil?

Neil
I said it was by skipping school on Fridays…

Beth
Which was… the correct answer! Greta started her ‘school strike for climate’ in August 2018 before it was taken up by over 1.6 million school children from 125 countries around the world. Okay, let’s recap the vocabulary we've learned from this programme starting with climate anxiety, feeling worried, afraid or depressed because of climate change.

Neil
A parasite is an animal or plant that feeds off another living thing. 

Beth
If something makes you feel very emotional or upset, you might say, it freaks me out!

Neil
The idiom one in a million describes something which is extremely special, rare or unlikely. 

Beth
And finally, two phrasal verbs to finish with – to put something off which means to delay doing it ‘til later, and to push something away which means to decide to forget about or ignore it. Once again our six minutes are up, but remember to join us again soon for more trending topics and useful vocabulary, here at 6 Minute English. Goodbye for now!

Neil
Bye!