Biography of Greta Thunberg

Greta Tintin Eleonora Ernman Thunberg (born January 3, 2003) is a Swedish environmentalist who was awarded the Right Livelihood Award in 2019 for her efforts to protect the environment. Greta began working on environmental issues in 2014 and gained attention in 2018 for organizing several student strikes in front of the Swedish parliament. She quickly became one of the most visible faces of the climate movement and participated in numerous international summits and events.

Family and early years

She is the oldest of two daughters of actor Svante Thunberg and opera singer Malena Ernman. Her grandfather is director Olof Thunberg. At a young age, she was diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome, selective mutism, and OCD. As a child, she took ballet lessons and learned to play the piano.

Climate change initiative

At the age of eleven, she experienced a severe episode of depression that led her to learn about climate change. Realizing she was not doing enough to combat it, she completely changed her lifestyle, stopped consuming meat, and began looking for ways to reduce her impact on the environment.

She soon realized that just changing her own lifestyle was not enough, so she began promoting change among her peers.

She challenged these people to reduce their carbon footprint. Inspired by her passion and concerned about climate change, her parents followed her example by stopping the consumption of meat and flying. This ended her mother’s international career as an opera singer.

The whole story about her family and the change that Greta promoted in them is narrated in the book “Scener ur hjärtat” (Scenes from the heart), published in 2018. That same year, Thunberg became famous as the Friday activist, as she sat in front of the Swedish parliament every Friday to protest the government’s inaction on climate change.

Greta Thunberg: protests and conferences

From August 20 to September 9, 2018, Greta stopped going to school to protest in front of the Swedish parliament with a sign that said “Skolstrejk för klimatet” (school strike for the climate). She demanded, like Rosa Parks, sitting down, the reduction of carbon emissions according to the Paris Agreement.

After the general elections on September 9, Thunberg continued protesting in front of parliament every Friday, quickly attracting the attention of the public and the media. Her protests soon inspired other students and activists from around the world. By the end of 2018, Greta became famous for her strikes and speeches on climate change and environmental protection.

In December 2018, Thunberg addressed key figures in the world at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP24) and made it clear that the world as we know it is in danger due to the inaction of governments. She later participated in a talk with some representatives of the We Don’t Have Time Foundation and in January 2019 she appeared at the Davos Forum.

Continuing with her climate campaign, on February 21, 2019 she participated in one of the conferences of the European Economic and Social Committee and spoke with Jean-Claude Juncker, the head of the European Commission. Once in Sweden, she continued protesting in front of parliament. Many students and activists joined her.

In July of that same year, Greta met with the British band The 1975. One of her speeches was included on the band’s new album, Notes on a Conditional Form.

Current events

At the beginning of 2020, she participated in the annual assembly of the World Economic Forum in Davos (January 21) and in the Environment Committee of the European Parliament (March 4).

Greta was isolated, after her trip to Brussels, because she had some symptoms of covid-19 infection. Currently, she keeps away from the spotlight and crowds due to the spread of the virus. However, she has not stopped communicating her message through social media. She has also called on young people to take care of themselves and their elders in light of recent news about the spread.

Recognitions

For her actions in favor of the environment, she has received the Fryshuset scholarship (2018); the Special Climate Protection Award Goldene Kamera (2019); the Prix Liberté de Normandie (2019); the Fritt Ords Award (2019) and the Right Livelihood Award (2019). She has also been included on Time magazine’s list of the most influential people and was named Sweden’s most important woman of the year (2019).

She was nominated as a candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize by three members of the Norwegian parliament in 2019. She also received the Geddes Environment Medal, the 2019 International Children’s Peace Prize, and an honorary doctorate from the University of Mons.