Last month, Greta Thunberg made social media waves for her emotional diatribe in front of the UN Climate Action Summit. Before that, she had been featured on the cover of Time magazine and even nominated for Time’s 100 most influential people. She even has her own Wikipedia page. This all stemmed from her initial call for a “School strike for climate” in 2018 as she protested outside the Swedish parliament. Clearly, many consider Greta Thunberg an inspiring activist and the leader of a new wave of young climate activists demanding more government awareness and action on climate initiatives.

Elsewhere in Europe, in Ireland’s County Cork, another young teenager also felt compelled to do something about the climate. His approach was a little different. It didn’t get him in as many headlines. He hasn’t gotten on the cover of Time magazine. A lot of people don’t even know his name, let alone consider him for nomination to any top 100 lists. He doesn’t have a Wikipedia page and he hasn’t trended on Twitter. But advocates for individual innovation argue Fionn Ferreira’s approach is the one that will ultimately make a difference.

You see, instead of building a picket sign, Fionn entered a science fair. Through his project, which he termed ‘An investigation into the removal of microplastics from water using ferrofluids,’ he pioneered a way to remove microscopic plastic from water through magnetism. While Fionn himself admits his findings are only a starting place, the application of his conclusions could be a significant leap forward toward the goal of much cleaner water.

The Greta-Fionn dynamic is one that most activists ignore. The politics of climate change are so caught up in the argument of whether it exists or not, whether it’s man-made or not, and whether it’s an existential threat or not that few climate activists take a step back and consider whether their “shut up and bow to science” approach is changing anyone’s mind and whether their empowered and centralized government solution is the only answer to the problem.

Greta Thunberg has been taught by her enablers that, as an individual, she is helpless to effect real change. She believes she has to appear before a world governing body and demand in the heights of emotion that they must do something because they have robbed her of a future. She is so obviously hopeless in her view of the future; she believes the mighty wheels of government alone can save us.

Meanwhile, Fionn Ferreira, as an enterprising individual, looked about himself and wondered what he could do to make a difference. It can only be guessed that he is surrounded by supportive adults who helped him believe in himself. Adults who encouraged him to develop the requisite knowledge to create and pioneer new technology. Fionn obviously believes that he still has something to say about his future and has a part to play in personally crafting that future through his own endeavor. Fionn still believes he can save himself, and he’s rolling up his sleeves.

Fionn Ferreira is far from the darling of the climate activist movement that Greta Thunberg is. But he’s touched on something everyone can agree on: clean water and clean air. No one is going to shout down innovative ideas from enterprising individuals. His approach isn’t granting him fame, but arguably it’s brought on more results and possibly opened more minds.

Ultimately, the difference between the approaches of Fionn Ferreira and Greta Thunberg is that one is substantive, and the other is merely performative.

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