An incredible achievement for the 16-year-old.
Greta Thunberg, the Swedish schoolgirl who is at the forefront of the fight against climate change, has been named Time magazine’s Person of the Year for 2019.
She is the youngest person to ever win the award, which has been running since 1927.
In Thunberg’s campaign against climate change, she has addressed heads of state at the U.N., met with the Pope, gone toe-to-toe with the President of the United States and inspired millions of people to join the global climate strike that took place on 20 September, in what was the largest climate demonstration in human history.
Thunberg’s powerful speech aimed at the UN remains one of the most iconic moments of the year.
TIME Magazine justified their decision to give her the coveted award, saying: “Where others smile to cut the tension, Thunberg is withering. Where others speak the language of hope, Thunberg repeats the unassailable science: Oceans will rise. Cities will flood. Millions of people will suffer.”
The work has not stopped for the 16-year-old however, as she continues to work and attempt to raise awareness of the climate emergency.
“Well I am telling you there is hope. I have seen it.
But it does not come from governments or corporations.
It comes from the people.”Here’s a small part from my speech today at the #cop25 in Madrid. pic.twitter.com/Dg8pz969yS
— Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) December 11, 2019
This is the first time in two years that an individual person has won the award, with a select group of journalists winning it in 2018, and ‘silence breakers’ winning the year before.
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