It seems that the teenage activist and darling of publicity-hungry world leaders, Greta Thunberg has turned down an environmental award and prize money because ‘the climate movement ‘does not need any more awards.’

She said the offer was a great honour and thanked the Nordic Council, which said it respected her decision. But, she said, politicians and the people in power need to listen to the current, best-available science.

Ms Thunberg was this year’s favourite to win the Nobel Peace Prize, but the award went to Ethiopia’s Abiy Ahmed who at least brought peace to a land ravaged by war for over thirty years. That surely is better than turning the minds of hundreds – perhaps thousands – of children who know nothing about the real world and haven’t had time to think things through.

In an Instagram post explaining her decision to turn down the prize money of 500,000 kronor (£40,000) Ms Thunberg said: “The Nordic countries have a great reputation around the world when it comes to climate and environmental issues. There is no lack of bragging about this. There is no lack of beautiful words.”

But she said Nordic energy consumption told ‘a whole other story.’

She referenced a report from the WWF and the Global Footprint Network, which says that Sweden, along with most of the Nordic region, lives as if the world has the resources of four planets. The gap between what science said was needed to limit a global temperature increase and what was being implemented was ‘gigantic,’ said Ms Thunberg.

“We belong to the countries that have the possibility to do the most. And yet our countries still basically do nothing,” she added.

The president of the Nordic Council, Hans Wallmark, said the organisation respected Greta Thunberg’s decision and called her movement a good cause for everyone.

I can’t say I agree with him. I am sure Ms Thunberg is sincere is what she is saying and doing, but she can afford to be.  I just feel sorry for the parents of other silly kids who are caught up in the Swedish girl’s crazy campaign

No I am not a ‘flat earther’ as they call it, but I fear that Mankind has gone too far to go backward now. Children are accusing their parents and grandparents of ruining the planet but are these same children going to go to school on bicycles or use their legs to do so, particularly in the depths of winter?

I doubt that I’m afraid. If they are forced to go on their bikes, they will demand electric bicycles, but the extract of lithium and other minerals used for making the batteries for these machines are doing untold damage to the planet.

So will they walk as their sadly castigated parents and grandparents walked? Again, I can’t see that happening. Will they go without the heating in their bedrooms and merely wear extra clothing to keep warm in the winter? Again I have my doubts.

Will they take cold showers and wash their clothes by hand on the grounds that washing machines and water heaters are consumers of power and will they dry their wet clothing on clothes lines because dryers use natural gas? Of course they won’t!

What about clothing? Will these angry children wear only clothing that is made from undyed, unbleached linen, wool and jute and doesn’t have designer labels? No, that would get them mocked and laughed at by their friends. Cotton too is out of the question as that is picked by lowly paid workers and pesticides that are bad for the environment are used to grow the stuff.

Above all, will they do without their cell phones, laptops and other instruments of modern technology? Will they merely talk face to face with their friends instead of phoning them and thereby save on electricity – and help the planet from disappearing into somewhere unknown – of course they won’t.

Will they do without their expensive holidays to exotic places in large aeroplanes. Not a chance! Miss Thunberg claims that my generation (I am seventy-five) are to blame for ‘killing the planet’ but few parents or grandparents in my generation ever had holidays, used cars or even bicycles. They certainly didn’t use cell phones, computers or other electronic gadgetry. Are these pampered children going to live like that?

Of course they aren’t.

And what about food? If the world is to have a zero carbon footprint as Ms Thunberg and her followers so earnestly demand, they will have to do without meat, fish or poultry. They cannot even have meat substitutes made from Soya because that too is a crop and needs machinery to harvest the beans, trucks to transport the wretched stuff to processing plants where a huge amount of energy is used. Then it is all transported again to the canning and packaging plants before being transported yet again to the various outlets around the world. No more food will be imported because that too affects the ecology of the world. So no more chocolate, no more coffee and no more tea, unless they can somehow grow it all in their own gardens.

But that would mean hard work, even if conditions are right so that is not going to happen either.

Of course, they can grow their own potatoes, vegetables and fruit in their allotments – or their parents’ allotments – but they can’t use greenhouses for this because they run on boilers, piped in CO2 and artificial light. According to the Thunberg disciples, these are bad for the climate and are destroying the environment.

Bread is still possible, but will these pampered children go without butter, milk, cheese and yogurt, cottage cheese and cream, all of which come from cows that emit CO2. Of course they won’t. They must also do without margarine and no oils will be used for the frying pan, because that fat is palm oil from plantations in Borneo where rain forests are rapidly disappearing. They won’t have any ice cream on hot summer days, nor will they have their energy drinks anymore because the bubbles are caused by CO2. How will they manage with only tap water to drink, the poor pampered darlings? Mind you, chemicals are used to purify tap water so they will have to drink only untreated water. What will they do when they all go down with cholera?

They will also have to do without any plastic because it comes from chemical factories. Everything made of steel and aluminium must also be removed. Have you ever seen the amount of energy a blast furnace consumes or an aluminium smelter? These places are terribly bad for the environment.

And what about the girls – and some boys in this snowflake day and age? Ms Thunberg might not use makeup, except perhaps for her numerous television appearances, but young girls will no longer be able to use makeup, soap, shampoo, cream, lotion, conditioner, toothpaste and medication.

Basically if the Thunberg lass and her mad acolytes are to have their way, the world must revert to stone age living. Is this what they really want? Somehow, I doubt it and fear for a generation of young people who have completely lost their marbles in their attempt to emulate an undoubtedly sincere, but sadly deluded lassie who doesn’t really know what she is advocating or if she does, has not thought through the consequences.

And for some weird reason, many eminently sensible people are agreeing with her but I bet none of the world leaders who have so enthusiastically embraced her cause will give up their own creature comforts.

I don’t like the modern world very much but appreciate that huge advances in almost every field have been made. Are these to be thrown away to appease a sixteen year old autistic child and her deluded supporters.

I sincerely hope not.