Published 13:00 IST, October 9th 2019
Greta Thunberg favourite for Nobel Peace Prize, as per Norway bookies
Norway bookmakers seem very confident that Greta Thunberg, the Swedish teen climate activist, will be a perfect fit for the Nobel Peace Prize
- World News
- 3 min read
Norway bookmakers seem very confident that Greta Thunberg, the Swedish teen climate activist, will be a perfect fit for the Nobel Peace Prize to be announced this week, but many experts do not support the idea of glamorizing the serious activist, as per European media.
"Not doing it for the prize": Greta
The 16-year-old activist has received the Right Livelihood Award, sometimes dubbed the "alternative Nobel", and online betting sites like Ladbrokes and many more have pegged Greta as their chosen one to win the prestigious prize.
In a recent interview, Greta stressed on the fact that while the award would be "a recognition for this movement," she and her supporters weren't "doing this to get awards and prizes." The previous year, she started sitting alone in front of Sweden's parliament on Fridays with a sign reading "School Strike for the Climate".
The young activist has urged millions of young people across the globe to be a part of the demonstrations to raise awareness for action on climate change. She made global headlines in late September when she lambasted world leaders at the UN climate summit in New York. Henrik Urdal, director of the Peace Research Institute in Oslo (Prio), said that it seems extremely unlikely that Greta’s impassioned wake-up call enough to earn her the Nobel Peace Prize.
More of a burden than a reward
He argued that while some say climate change might aggravate conflicts in his view there is still no consensus on whether it is actually the cause of armed conflict. He also said her tender age could make the prize more of a burden than a reward.
Urdal said, referring to Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai, who got the prize in year 2014 at age 17 along with children's rights activist Kailash Satyarthi, that the only way he can see Greta getting the prize is if she is a part of shared pize like Malala. Predicting the winner is always a challenge since the Norwegian Nobel Committee never reveals the names of the nominees. All that is known is that a total of 301 individuals and organisations have been nominated this year.
Updated 15:14 IST, October 9th 2019