This Digitally altered video shows Greta Thunberg denying the existence of climate change

A video going viral on social media claims that Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg has accepted that climate change does not exist. In the viral video the Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg can be heard saying, “Since the climate crisis doesn’t exist, how can we expect people to want climate action?” 

In the viral video, the MSNBC host asks Thunberg how she would respond if the president asked her how to address climate change. Thunberg responds that she would tell him nothing because that wouldn’t be democratic, and she wouldn’t want an elected leader to do anything without voter support.

At 38 seconds she said “So I would just tell him to tell the situation as it is,” Later she continues: “Since the climate crisis doesn’t exist, how can we expect people to want climate action?”

The caption of the post mentions, “Make this confession go far and wide. Listen to Greta Thunberg dropping a truth. When asked what she would advise the president to do she says: “Well nothing, because that’s not democratic…” then admits. “Since the climate crisis doesn’t exist…….how can we expect people to want climate action” The Climate Change Pin-up Girl: Climate Change doesn’t exist. Some bad actors turn for the human cause or to avoid a death sentence. #WhiteHatsInControl #TheGreatAwakening.”

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Fact Check-

We started our investigation by using the keyword search to find the viral interview, it led us to the MSNBC website and found the original clip which was uploaded on 8^th March, 2021. The description of the interview reads, “Greta Thunberg urges Biden to address the climate crisis.”

In this video, at 2:00 mins the host asked Greta the same question but her reply was different from what is shown in the viral video. 

You can see the transcripts of Thunberg’s complete answer: 

Host: “Is there a specific policy goal if he rang you up and said Greta, what should I do? I can wave a presidential magic wand, what should I do that I’m not? What would you say?” 

Thunberg: “Nothing because that’s not democratic. I mean, an elected leader cannot do anything without support from voters. And I would not want anyone to do anything that would not have the support, because that would be undemocratic and democracy is the most precious thing that we have and we must not risk that.

“So, what we need now is to raise awareness. To create public opinion. To treat the crisis like a crisis. Because if people are not aware of the crisis that we face, of course, they won’t put pressure on the elected leaders. So, I would just tell him to tell the situation as it is. Because I mean, yes, you could say, I meet with a lot of world leaders and they say ‘I can’t do anything because I don’t have the support from voters.’ Well, how can you expect support and pressure from voters if you aren’t treating the crisis like a crisis– since the climate crisis doesn’t exist, how can we expect people to want climate action?”

Observing the video carefully we noticed that Thunberg’s image jumps ever so slightly between the two sentences in the viral video (at 38 seconds). This shows that the viral video is digitally edited to show that Greta Thunberg has admitted that climate change is not a real natural phenomenon. 

Conclusion- Fact Crescendo found the above-mentioned viral video to be a digitally altered video. The viral video has been digitally cropped and edited to make it appear that Thunberg said , “the climate crisis doesn’t exist.” In the original video, Thunberg emphasized the need for leaders to tell voters that climate change is a real crisis. She explained why people would not press for change if they thought climate change didn’t exist.