Greta Thunberg says it's time to transform the West's 'oppressive' capitalist system

Greta Thunberg has lashed out at the West's obsession with capitalism in a scathing rant during a sit down chat in London to promote her new book.

The 19-year-old Swedish activist called on everyone to help transform the system that she believes is responsible for the climate crisis we find ourselves in today.

Thunberg said the Western world is in need of a 'system-wide transformation'.

The teenage activist said: "We are never going back to normal again because ‘normal’ was already a crisis.

"What we refer to as normal is an extreme system built on the exploitation of people and the planet.

"It is a system defined by colonialism, imperialism, oppression and genocide by the so-called global North to accumulate wealth that still shapes our current world order."

Thunberg added that if economic growth is the only priority of our global leaders, then 'what we are experiencing now should be exactly what we should be expecting'.

The Swedish activist spoke at London’s Royal Festival Hall to launch her new published work called The Climate Book.

The book is described as the 'essential handbook for making it happen' when it comes to saving the Earth.

In her speech, she added that her generation is prepared to fight for what is right and to tackle the wrongs of their predecessors.

"We are still here, and we are not planning on going anywhere," she said.

"Young people all over the world are stepping up, showing that our leaders messed with the wrong generation."

During a question and answer section of the event, Thunberg added: “We need to change everything because right now our current system is on a collision course with the future of humanity and the future of our civilisation”.

Her words came after the activist dubbed the UN's climate conference COP27 as a 'colossal scam'.

"I’m not going to COP27 for many reasons, but the space for civil society this year is extremely limited," she said.

"The COPs are mainly used as an opportunity for leaders and people in power to get attention, using many different kinds of greenwashing."

Greenwashing is the process of companies or countries exaggerating their commitment to tackling climate change.

Given the incredibly pressing nature of the climate crisis, Greta said: "As it is, the COPs are not really working, unless, of course, we use them as an opportunity to mobilise, which we must try to do, and make people realise what a colossal scam this is."

She isn't wrong.

Watching the world's superpowers fly to a conference to talk about climate change sounds like like the start of a Monty Python sketch.