16-year-old Greta Thurnberg has become the most recognisable climate activist in the world, turning a solo school strike into a global movement with more than 1 million participants.
Frustrated by the distinct lack of action from Swedish politicians in the face of impending climate catastrophe, Thunberg refused to go to school for three weeks in late 2018. In an act of calculated civil obedience, she instead protested outside the Swedish parliament, pledging to continue her ‘Skolstrejk’ every Friday until her national Government put in policies to slow global warming.
Her struggle went viral and received international media attention. She now regularly speaks at parliaments and protest movements across Europe, imploring people in positions of power to act immediately on expert advice that the earth has 11 years left to cut back on fossil fuels to avoid ‘devastating’ global warming.
Thunberg has inspired a legion of young, social media-savvy followers the world over who have decided to sacrifice a part of their education for the greater good. She’s also impacting on travel habits around the world, as one of the key proponents of ‘Flygskam’, or flight shame.
She’s been intensely vocal about the fires plaguing the Amazon rainforest, and the structural issues causing the damage — particularly the rise in logging under far-right Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.
Tags: Amazon Rainforest, Climate emergency, Greta Thurnberg
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