Greta Thunberg says "action" is required to fight climate crisis anxiety

While answering questions from people such as singer Jaden Smith, humanitarian Malala Yousafzai, and poet Amanda Gorman for ELLE UK's 'Ask Me Anything' video series, Greta advised: "Find people who think like you, and start something together. For so many people [to] feel less worried about the climate crisis, [they need to] take action. You can still feel worried, but at least you don't feel it's meaningless. I think everyone feels that way, at least sometimes because the changes that are necessary aren't possible in today's systems ... It [may feel] like we can't do anything, but it's not true. In order to create societal change, we need people leading the way. If one person does something, [it] could have a snowball effect, and that could eventually start a whole movement."

Greta says the only way she can remain "hopeful" is by people taking action and not ignoring the inevitable.

She said: "Hopeful, to me, doesn't mean that I have a feeling that everything will be alright and that there's no need to worry because things are being taken of. Hope is going out there, doing something and taking action. That's how I can stay hopeful."

The Fridays For Future founder also accused environmentally "harmful" clothing brands of "greenwashing".

Greta said: "Most people know [fast fashion] is very harmful for the environment, but I think many people seem to think there are many in the fashion industry who are trying to become better and more sustainable, and so on. When, in fact, that's very often not the case. They are using that in order to make people think that they're doing something - they're using 'greenwashing', which is a common misconception."

Greta admitted to being "shocked" at seeing the "inequality" in rich nations like the United States.

She said: "I always love going to different places and [learning] how activism works in different areas. But in the US, what struck me the most was the inequality. It's the richest country in the world, and yet there was so much inequality. Going to some of the poorest areas and going to some of the most high income areas, it was a very ... big difference and that really shocked me."

Read the full AMA here: www.elle.com/uk/GretaThunbergAskMeAnything.