Thunberg is a 17-year-old Swedish environmental activist whose campaigning has received international recognition. She has given speeches at many institutions such as the UN Climate Change Conference, she spoke for the Pope, and she inspired 4 million people to join the global climate strike on September 20, 2019, in what became the largest climate demonstration in human history. Her aim is to urge immediate action to address the climate crisis. 

She convinced her parents to adopt lifestyle choices to reduce their own carbon footprint. In 2018, she started spending her school days outside the Swedish parliament to call for stronger action on climate change with a sign reading Skolstrejk för klimatet (School strike for the climate). Soon, other students engaged in similar protests and they organised a school climate strike movement, Fridays for Future. “We can’t just continue living as if there was no tomorrow, because there is a tomorrow. That is all we are saying,” said Greta in 2019. A sailboat took her from the United States to Portugal to take part in Madrid’s Climate Summit without flying, in order not to increase her carbon footprint.