Congratulations to Miss Greta Thunberg for being chosen as Time's Person of the Year 2019.  Thunberg, 16, is the youngest individual to be recognized. She gained international attention for excoriating world leaders for their inaction in the climate crisis in a viral speech she made at the UN Climate Action Summit in September. Also, she criticized world leaders again at the COP25 conference. 

 

Thunberg first became known for her activism in August 2018 when, at age 15, she began spending her school days outside the Swedish parliament to call for stronger action on global warming by holding up a sign saying (in Swedish) "School strike for the climate". Soon, other students engaged in similar protests in their own communities. Together, they organized a school climate strike movement under the name Fridays for Future. After Thunberg addressed the 2018 United Nations Climate Change Conference, student strikes took place every week somewhere in the world. In 2019, there were at least two coordinated multi-city protests involving over one million students each. At home, Thunberg convinced her parents to adopt several lifestyle choices to reduce their own carbon footprint, including giving up air travel and not eating meat.

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Her sudden rise to world fame has made her a leader and a target. In May 2019, Thunberg was featured on the cover of Time magazine, which named her a "next generation leader" and noted that many see her as a role model. Thunberg and the school strike movement were also featured in a 30-minute Vice documentary titled Make the World Greta Again. Some media have described her impact on the world stage as the "Greta Thunberg effect". Thunberg has been the recipient of numerous honors and awards, including fellowship of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society, has been named as one of the 100 most influential people of 2019 by Time magazine, eventually being named Time Person of the Year 2019. Thunberg was nominated for the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize. In September 2019, she addressed the UN Climate Action Summit in New York.