Naomi Seibt, the German dubbed the ‘anti-Greta Thunberg’ of climate change, targeted Ms Thunberg for “not knowing any more than a random teenager” after the Swedish teenager waded into a row over coronavirus. Fury erupted earlier this year after Ms Thunberg had been chosen on a panel of so-called experts to discuss the world’s handling of the coronavirus. Attacks were aimed towards broadcaster CNN for Ms Thunberg’s inclusion, including Ms Seibt who claimed her rival had as much knowledge of the topic as “anyone who reads mainstream news” in an exclusive chat with Express.co.uk.
Ms Seibt likened Ms Thunberg’s alleged “expertise” to herself, by playfully saying she could be a doctor because she “once sewed my teddy bear’s arm back on”.
But it wasn’t just the space made for Ms Thunberg on the panel that riled Ms Seibt.
She accused CNN of offering a platform to the activist to spout her views on the discussion, and inevitably climate change.
Ms Seibt said: “It’s obviously absolutely ridiculous, especially in the case of the coronavirus because at least she was a climate activist in some sense.
“And at least she said we need to listen to the experts, although in terms of climate change she never names who those experts are.
“But in the case of the coronavirus she doesn’t have a clue about what is going on and who knows the most about the coronavirus and what we should do.
“So she just spills the propaganda that she is so supposed to talk about.”
She added: “Greta doesn’t know any more than any random teenage girl who reads the mainstream news.
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“The only people claiming that I’m an ‘expert’ are those who are trying to ridicule me.”
Ms Seibt – who does not like the comparison to Ms Thunberg, who she says has left youngsters around the globe “panicked when they should have hope” – and her anger at the teen arose after she was unable to discuss varying opinions on climate change.
Ms Seibt agrees that carbon dioxide – which is a byproduct of the use of fossil fuels – does affect the climate, but she argues that how bad it is for the environment is constantly blown out of proportion by the likes of Ms Thunberg.
Ms Thunberg and her army of supporters refer to research from 2013 that claims 97 percent of scientists argued that human activities are behind climate change.
Previously Ms Seibt has said that that research was “way too vague”, and has called on institutions such as the European Union to listen to both sides of the debate in order to reach a more fair consensus on how to tackle the decline of the world’s environment.