Published 11:28 IST, January 4th 2020
Greta Thunberg marks 17th birthday with 7-hour climate protest
Climate activist Greta Thunberg turned 17 and marked her birthday with a seven-hour climate protest on December 3. She braved the harsh winter conditions.
Climate activist Greta Thunberg turned 17 and marked her birthday with a seven-hour climate protest on December 3. She braved the harsh winter conditions in her native Stockholm to continue the weekly Friday School Strike for the climate campaign that helped her to gain international fame. As she turned 17 on Friday, she said that she is not the kind of person who celebrates birthdays. She marked her birthday with a seven-hour protest outside the Swedish Parliament. She told the media that they stood there from 8am until 3pm as usual and then went home.
Campaigns inspired a lot of people
She added that she won't have a birthday cake but they will have dinner. Its been a hectic schedule for Thunberg last year as she travelled the globe by car, train and boat demanding to take steps on climate change. When she was 15, she skipped school on Fridays to protest outside the Swedish Parliament to pressurize her government to curb carbon emissions. Her campaigns inspired a lot of people to take action against climate change.
Protest outside Swedish Parliament
The young activist returned back to Sweden on December 20 and took part in a rally outside the parliament where her protests first began over a year ago. She made news headlines in late August last year for having a placard with her that read, 'School strike for climate.' Now she is a very renowned figure and her supporters have grown widely in the world. She was busy attending her first UN climate summit in New York and then COP25 talks in Madrid.
Thunberg meets young climate activists
She was dressed in her trademark outfit, yellow sweatshirt and woolen hat with a pack of bodyguards behind her. She met with a group of young and enthusiastic climate activists outside the parliamentary complex. Thunberg, named 2019 Person of the Year by Time magazine said that she is hopeful that the distinction would help put her cause in the spotlight. According to the international media agency, she said that she hopes the campaign raises awareness and inspires others to get involved and protect the environment. She added that she wants to raise concerns about the alarming levels of global warming among world leaders and politicians similar to her speech 'How Dare You?' speech at the UN climate summit.
Updated 11:28 IST, January 4th 2020