Swedish teen who inspired global youth climate strike nominated for Nobel Peace Prize
Greta Thunberg, the Swedish teen who helped spark a massive movement to combat climate change, on Thursday was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.
“We have proposed Greta Thunberg because if we do nothing to halt climate change it will be the cause of wars, conflict and refugees,” said Freddy André Øvstegård, a Socialist member of the Norwegian Parliament, according to The Guardian. “Greta Thunberg has launched a mass movement which I see as a major contribution to peace.”
{mosads}Thunberg, 16, said that she was “honoured and very grateful for this nomination” in a tweet following the announcement.
Thunberg, who founded the Youth Strike for Climate, began advocating last year for policies meant to combat climate outside the Swedish Parliament once a week.
The Guardian noted that Thunberg started refusing to go to school in August as a way to draw attention to climate change. She reportedly would hand out leaflets outside Parliament with the message: “I am doing this because you adults are shitting on my future.”
Thunberg’s activism has led many students in other countries to replicate her efforts. In February, an estimated 10,000 students skipped school for a climate protest in the United Kingdom. And in January, about 12,000 students in Belgium skipped school on multiple occasions to take part in a climate protest.
Her protest is now scheduled to go global on Friday, with demonstrations planned in more than 1,500 cities and more than 100 countries.
“1659 places in 105 countries. And counting. Tomorrow we schoolstrike for our future,” Thunberg added in a separate tweet. “And we will continue to do so for as long as it takes. Adults are more than welcome to join us. Unite behind the science.”
Four councils in cities across Scotland have said they would permit students to skip class during climate change protests in the country on Friday. Students in at least 98 countries will skip school for the event, according to Politico