World leaders hear teen’s climate demands

A total of 69 countries pledged Monday to adopt stricter climate goals by the end of 2020, with 65 aiming to reach a net of zero emissions. The countries’ leaders gathered in New York for a United Nations summit on climate change after millions of student activists around the world skipped school on Friday to demand change. U.S. President Donald Trump attended the summit briefly before hosting a meeting on international religious freedom.

Do those promises satisfy the students? They don’t seem to. Swedish environmentalist Greta Thunberg, 16, and a group of activists filed a suit with the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child against five countries—Argentina, Brazil, France, Germany, and Turkey—for failing to curb carbon emissions. Thunberg also gave an impassioned speech accusing world leaders of failing future generations, saying, “You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words.”

Dig deeper: Read Julie Borg and Marvin Olasky’s report on how reports of drastic temperature spikes can be misleading.