Greta Thunberg, Music, and the Climate Crisis

How have musicians helped spread climate activist Greta Thunberg’s message?

Know (knowledge):

• The differences between sampling, remixing, and covering a song or audio source
• The work of climate activist Greta Thunberg
• Greta Thunberg’s 2019 U.N. speech
• The way music can help spread social messages to a larger audience
• The work of other young climate activists across North America

Mastery Objective:

• Students will be able to investigate how music contributes to social movements by investigating musical covers, samples, and remixes of climate activist Greta Thunberg’s 2019 U.N. speech.

In this lesson, students investigate Greta Thunberg’s efforts in fighting the climate crisis by examining the ways musicians have covered, remixed, or sampled a speech she delivered before the United Nations in 2019. They then consider the larger social role musicians might play in spreading political or social messages. Finally, students are given the opportunity to imagine their own covers, remixes, or original pieces based upon quotes from other young climate activists.   

In October, 2018, the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, or IPCC, released a report which arguably changed the course of history. In no uncertain terms, the scientists that created the report warned that drastic social and economic changes are required within 12 years in order to mitigate the worst effects of a warming climate, which include not only a rising coastline and more extreme weather events, but also the collapse of ecosystems, global food and water shortages, and the extinction of millions of species. While the report presented a dire outlook if the world continued to release greenhouse gases at current rates, it also gave room for hope: humanity has all the technology and science it needs to drastically curb such emissions that cause global warming. All that is lacking is the will.

Just a few months before the report was published, 16-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg began leaving school every Friday to protest in front of the parliament building in Stockholm. Inspired by the example of the March For Our Lives movement organized by students after the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, Thunberg stood alone in front of the Parliament building, holding up a sign that read “Skolstrejk för klimatet”: “School Strike for Climate.” Thunberg’s demand of the government was to address the climate change like the crisis it is.

On the first day of the strike Thunberg sat alone. On the second day, a single person joined her. Soon however, inspired by her example, young people from across the world became climate activists, developing their own organizations to demand local, regional, and national governments start addressing the climate crisis. The numbers grew, and around a year later, in September 2019, an estimated 400 million people around the globe participated in the Global Climate Strike.

Musicians, too, have been inspired by Thunberg’s example. Artists including Janelle Monáe, Billie Eilish, and Camila Cabello have expressed admiration for Thunberg. Bebe Rexha dedicated her song, "You Can't Stop The Girl" to Thunberg, and Thunberg collaborated with the band The 1975 on a self-titled song. Around the same time as the Global Climate Strike, Thunberg delivered a scathing speech before the U.N., castigating the gathered world leaders for not doing enough to address the climate crisis. In turn, the speech inspired remixes, samples, and covers, including a Death Metal song, a fan-made Fatboy Slim Mashup (which was later played by the artist himself at a performance), and a cover by singer Megan Washington.

The climate crisis is one of the most significant challenges humanity has ever faced, and Greta Thunberg is the first to admit she alone cannot solve the problem. Indeed, Thunberg often stresses the absurdity of her position as both a child and a role model for climate action, and is often vocally uncomfortable with her recent celebrity. Yet the fact that her message spread so rapidly, from a singular protest in Copenhagen to a global protest of millions, is a testament to the rate at which the will to address climate change is growing and strengthening.

Thunberg won't likely be the only young climate activist to garner global attention: already activist like Irsa Hirsi, Xiye Bastida, Kevin Patel, Daphne Frias, Feliquan Charlemagne, and Vic Barrett increasingly amplifying the message. Each have their own stories to tell, and each have as much to lose - perhaps more - as Thunberg.

This lesson made possible in part by Leaving a Positive Legacy, Inc.  Positive Legacy is a 501c3 nonprofit that integrates music and service to benefit people and the planet.