Greta Thunberg denounces Jacinda Ardern, New Zealand for 'not doing anything' on climate crisis

Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg is calling out New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern for "not doing anything" to address the climate emergency.

In an interview with The Guardian, the 18-year-old was asked what she thought about Ardern's comments in June, where she described climate change as a matter of "life or death".

"It's funny that people believe Jacinda Ardern and people like that are climate leaders," Thunberg responded.

"That just tells you how little people know about the climate crisis."

Ardern, who declared a climate emergency in New Zealand in December, has been forced to defend her Government's action on climate change before - and it's not the first time Thunberg has taken aim at Aotearoa

"It goes without saying that these people are not doing anything," Thunberg added to The Guardian.

Earlier this month, Ardern insisted her Government was "working very hard" to address the climate emergency after New Zealand was targeted in a global push to reduce the planet-warming gas, methane. 

"We've tried to really lean into the international science in this space because it's important to us and it's important that we do our bit," Ardern said. 

"The second point I'd make is, of course, we do that in the context of those emissions derived from food production being the most significant proportion of our overall emissions profile. 

"My view is that actually, by developing initiatives that substantially reduce those emissions, we will have something that the rest of the world will be very grateful for.

"We are working very hard to actually reduce those emissions in real terms. We are the only country in the world that I know of that has made a commitment to how we will price emissions that are produced through our food production."

New Zealand has committed to reaching net-zero emissions of greenhouse gases and reducing methane emissions by between 24 to 47 percent by 2050.