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Meet Greta Thunberg, The 16-Year-Old Nobel Prize Nominee

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Sonakshi Goel
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Greta Thunberg is a Swedish climate activist who started a school strike for the climate outside the Swedish Parliament in August 2018. The school strike has since spread all over the world and now involves over 100,000 school children. The movement is called "Fridays For Future."

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The 16-year-old has been nominated for Nobel Peace Prize by three Norwegian lawmakers. There are 301 candidates for the 2019 prize: 223 individuals and 78 organizations. National politicians, international officials, academics and previous winners are among those who can nominate potential recipients.

Thunberg took to Twitter to say that she was "honoured" to receive the nomination:

Thunberg has spoken at various climate rallies in Stockholm, Helsinki, Brussels, and London. Greta developed a special interest in climate activism when she was nine and was studying in the third grade. Here is why you should know more about this gutsy little girl:

“They were always talking about how we should turn off lights, save water, not throw out food. I  asked why and they explained about climate change. And I thought this was very strange. If humans could really change the climate, everyone would be talking about it and people wouldn’t be talking about anything else. But this wasn’t happening," she told The New Yorker.

At the United Nations COP24

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She became  after her blunt speech to world leaders at the United Nations COP24 in Katowice, Poland last year in December. “We have not come here to beg world leaders to care. You have ignored us in the past and you will ignore us again. We have run out of excuses and we are running out of time. We have come here to let you know that change is coming, whether you like it or not. The real power belongs to the people," she said. The speech was well-received by activists as well as political leaders.

At Davos

The activist made a 30-hour train journey to give an impactful speech in Davos this year in January. She spoke at a lunch with a guest list that included music stars Bono and Will.i.am, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, former Goldman Sachs President Gary Cohn, and an array of bankers and investors. "On climate change, we have to acknowledge that we have failed," she told global economic leaders in Davos.

Message to Prime Minister Narendra Modi

She even had a message for Prime Minister, Narendra Modi which she expressed in a video by Brut India.

Today, climate protests which are inspired by 16-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg are planned in more than 2,000 locations. She even took to Twitter to give the latest update about the protest.

Thunberg has also been named as one of the world's most influential teens by TIME magazine.

If Thunberg were to win the Nobel Peace Prize, she would be the youngest recipient of the award since Malala Yousafzai. Malala was 17 when she received the prize.

Picture credit: Evening Standard

Read also:  Here’s A List Of Things You Have Got To Stop Saying To Women, Enough!

Sonakshi Goel is an intern with SheThePeople.TV

climate activist Greta thunberg Nobel prize 2019
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