Teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg was named the TIME magazine’s Person of the Year on 11th December 2019, making the sixteen-year-old the youngest ever to receive the honour.
The Swedish schoolgirl, who has started a global revolution and movement against climate change, was earlier nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.
She beat the President of the United States Donald Trump, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, the Whistleblower whose complaint triggered the impeachment process of Donald Trump, and the Hong Kong pro-democracy protestors.
Thunberg shared a message with her followers on social media, calling the honour “unbelievable.”
Wow, this is unbelievable! I share this great honour with everyone in the #FridaysForFuture movement and climate activists everywhere. #climatestrike https://t.co/2t2JyA6AnM pic.twitter.com/u4JUD4cgCz
— Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) December 11, 2019
Thunberg rose to fame last year when she skipped her school each Friday to stand in protest outside the Swedish parliament for the inaction of the government against climate change. This galvanised into a worldwide movement that became popular, with students across the world protesting against the apathy of the government.
Since then, she has inspired millions of youngsters across the world to raise their voice against climate change. She has, in the last year, addressed heads of states of the most powerful nations, led the biggest climate change protests in the world, and even rubbed off some powerful people the wrong way for her beliefs. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that she is today a global icon.
So powerful is her persona and impact that Collins Dictionary named the world ‘climate strike’ its word of the year after a hundredfold increase in its usage.
In the last year, Thunberg has done it all: she has won the International Children’s Peace Prize, has had a beetle named after her, and has been awarded the Right Livelihood Award.
Isn’t it amazing what an individual can do to bring about a massive change in the world? We wish that there are more Gretas that come up across the world to fight the global menace of climate change.
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