Greta Thunberg
Discover Greta Thunberg — the Swedish climate activist who, starting at age 15, ignited a global youth movement demanding urgent action on climate change.
Greta Tintin Eleonora Ernman Thunberg (born 2003) became the world's most recognizable climate activist when, at age 15, she began a solitary protest outside the Swedish parliament in August 2018. Her 'School Strike for Climate' inspired millions of young people worldwide to demand urgent action on climate change, making her one of the most influential figures of the early 21st century.
Thunberg's message was remarkable for its directness and moral clarity. Speaking to world leaders at the United Nations, the World Economic Forum, and the European Parliament, she accused them of failing her generation by prioritizing economic growth over planetary survival. 'How dare you?' she told the UN General Assembly in 2019. 'You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words.' Her willingness to challenge the powerful, combined with her youth and autism (which she described as a 'superpower'), made her a uniquely compelling figure.
The Fridays for Future movement she inspired grew into the largest climate protest in history, with millions of students striking in over 150 countries. Thunberg became both a hero to climate activists and a target for critics who dismissed her as naive, instrumentalized, or too radical. Her significance lies less in specific policy achievements than in shifting the terms of climate debate — making it a matter of intergenerational justice and moral urgency rather than merely technical policy.