Greta Thunberg has candidly detailed the five ways humanity is "f***ed" in a new short film.
The 18-year-old activist recently appeared in a five-minute short film for #ForNature, which aims to shine a spotlight on the importance between the animal agriculture industry and the climate crisis.
Made in collaboration with Mercy For Animals, Thunberg gets straight to the point by declaring: "If we don’t change, we are f***ed."
Per Green Matters, the short educational film was conceived and written by the teenager, with Tom Mustill directing the piece.
Explaining first how humanity's relationship with nature is "broken", Thunberg explains how things need to change in order to heal the planet - highlighting five specific areas.
1. Pandemics and DiseasesThunberg starts by stating that zoonotic (meaning they originated in animals) diseases like Covid-19, Ebola, Zika, and others have killed millions of people around the world.
Greta then explains how "because of the way we farm and treat nature", up to 75 percent of all new diseases are zoonotic - a statistic first listed by the CDC back in 2017.
The teen continues: "Cutting down forests and destroying habitats, we are creating the perfect conditions for diseases to spill over - from one animal to another, and to us. The next pandemic could be much, much worse. But we can change."
2. The food systemAddressing a statistic first listed in a 2018 study published in the journal Science, the 18-year-old states how 83% of agricultural land on our planet is used to feed livestock - despite these animals only providing 18% of our calorie intake.
Speaking on the disproportionate numbers, Thunberg says: "We have industrialized life on Earth."
3. BiodiversitySpeaking to the camera, the teenager then states: "If we keep making food the way we do, we will also destroy the habitats of wild plants and animals, driving countless species to extinction.
"This really sucks for us too - they are our life-supporting system. If we lose them, we will be lost too."
Thunberg then quoted the UN's secretary-general Antonio Guterres, saying: "For too long, we have been waging a senseless and suicidal war on nature.
4. The ongoing climate crisisAfter noting that many people are quick to point the finger of blame at "fossil fuel companies", Thunberg then noted that, per the same 2018 Science study, a quarter of global greenhouse gas emissions are attributed to agriculture and land use.
The teen then states that if we all switched to a plant-based diet, "we could save up to 8 billion tons of CO2 every single year. We could feed ourselves on 76% less land. And nature could recover."
Thunberg then called pandemics, loss of biodiversity, climate disruption, and acidification a "symptom" caused by the "way we treat nature".
"When we protect nature, we are nature protecting itself," she adds.
5. AnimalsThunberg - who has been vegan for several years now - then asked the viewers to consider the "thoughts and feelings" of the animals within the farming industry.
Stressing that these animals are sentient and empathetic, Thunberg quoted the UN's FAO and revealed that humans slaughter over 60 billion land animals and more than 200 million tons of sea animals every year.
"Their lives are short and terrible," the teen says, before asking: "How will we be judged?"
But things can change for the better. As Greta writes on her Facebook page: "Our relationship with nature is broken. But relationships can change. When we protect nature - we are nature protecting itself."