Greta Thunberg: 'We are speeding in the wrong direction' on climate crisis

Exclusive: Climate striker speaks before UN event marking five years since the Paris accord

The world is speeding in the wrong direction in tackling the climate emergency, Greta Thunberg has said, before a UN event at which national leaders have been asked to increase their pledges for emissions cuts.

Thunberg, whose solo school strike in 2018 has snowballed into a global youth movement, said there was a state of complete denial when it came to the immediate action needed, with leaders giving only distant promises and empty words.