Teen climate activist Greta Thunberg visited France this week where she delivered an address to lawmakers at the country’s National Assembly. But some right-wing MPs chose to stay away, labelling the 16-year-old Swede the “Justin Bieber of ecology” and a "prophetess in shorts”. Click on the player to watch the video.
Guillaume Larrive, an MP for the right-wing opposition Les Républicains party, said that to fight climate change "what we need is scientific progress and political courage, not apocalyptic gurus", as he called on other lawmakers to boycott the speech.
Julien Aubert, also a member of Les Républicains, added: "Don't count on me to applaud a prophetess in shorts, a Nobel Prize for Fear."
While Sebastien Chenu of the far-right Rassemblement National said he would be “forced to kneel, to go and applaud the Justin Bieber of ecology".
Thunberg, though, hit back during her speech, noting that some lawmakers had opted not to attend.
“And that's fine. We are after all just children. You don't have to listen to us. But you do have to listen to the united sciences, the scientists, and that is all we ask. Just unite behind the science."
