What inspired Greta Thunberg to become an activist?

Greta Thunberg became a Climate Activist because of her concerns about environment since her childhood, her accumulated rage against injustice acted as a catalyst, and at the right moment she started right conversation and became a voice of many youths who were pledging the world leaders for the climate action.

How did Greta Thunberg begin her campaign for climate change?

Thunberg's climate activism began when she persuaded her parents to adopt lifestyle choices that reduced her family's carbon footprint . At age 15, Thunberg began skipping school on 20 August 2018, vowing to remain out of school until after the national Swedish election in an attempt to influence the outcome.

Who does Greta Thunberg blame for climate change?

In an opinion piece for the Guardian, the Swedish activist says world leaders have been responsible for several years of inaction in reducing emissions which she has termed “their decades of blah, blah, blah”.

Who is the famous activist for climate change?

Greta Thunberg, Van Jones, Xiuhtezcatl Martinez are some names of climate activists currently inspiring the entire world specially the younger generations to speak up against climate change.

Greta Thunberg's rise from youth activist to global climate leader

Axelle Rescourio,Beatrice Tridimas

Updated: July 28, 2023

explainer

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg is lifted away by police when she takes part in a new climate action in Oljehamnen in Malmo, Sweden July 24, 2023. TT News Agency/Andreas Hillergren/via REUTERS

What’s the context?

Youth campaigner Thunberg joinedclimate activists in London, calling on the UK government to stop theRosebank oil field

Greta Thunberg joins Rosebank oil-field protest in London
Thunberg fined for disobeying Swedish police orders
Activist inspired millions of students in climate strikes

LONDON - Climate campaigner Greta Thunberg joined other activists in London in late July in a protest to demand that the UK government reject the Rosebank oil field in the North Sea.

In a statement, the young Swede, 20, asked how the British government could consider new drilling "when we can see what the burning of fossil fuels is doing to the climate and to people".

“The extreme weather events being experienced around the world right now is just a taste of what's to come if we don't get off fossil fuels," she said.

"Given everything that we know and can now see with our own eyes, approving Rosebank would be a deliberately destructive act," she added.

She also criticised the Norwegian government, which she said would benefit from Rosebank as the largest shareholder in the field's operator - oil and gas company Equinor - while claiming to be "a climate leader".

Here's a timeline of Thunberg's rise from solo climate striker to leading global campaigner:

Week 258. The UK gov & Norwegian state-owned oil giant @Equinor want to build the massive Rosebank oil field. It would produce more CO2 than the 28 lowest income countries do in a year, burning us past climate targets and do nothing to lower energy bills.#StopRosebank @stopcambo pic.twitter.com/seH7jd3CQ6
— Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) July 28, 2023

August 20, 2018:Swedish student Thunberg, aged 15, skips school to protest outside parliament for more action against climate change.

August 26, 2018:She is joined by fellow students, teachers and parents at another protest and begins attracting media attention for her climate campaign.

September 2018:Thunberg begins a regular 'strike' from classes every Friday to protest climate issues. She invites other students to join her weekly "Fridays for Future" campaign by staging walkouts at their own schools.

November 2018:More than 17,000 students in 24 countries take part in Fridayschool strikes. Thunberg begins speaking at high-profile events across Europe, including U.N. climate talks in Poland.

March 2019:Thunberg is nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. The number of students taking part in school strikes hits more than 2 million people across 135 countries.

May 2019:Thunberg is named one of theworld's most influential peopleby Time magazine, appearing on its cover. "Now I am speaking to the whole world," she wrote on Twitter.

August 1, 2019:Thunberg hits back at "hate and conspiracy campaigns" after attacks by some right-wing lawmakers and commentators who questioned her credibility and described her as a "Nobel prize of fear".

August 2019:Thunberg, who refuses to fly, sails from Britain to the United States in azero-emissions boatto take part in a U.N. climate summit. Meanwhile, the number of climate strikers reaches 3.6 million people across 169 countries.

September 23, 2019:Thunberg delivers a blistering speech to leaders at the U.N. summit, accusing them of having "stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words".

September 25, 2019:Thunberg is named as one of four winners of the2019 Right Livelihood Award, known as Sweden's alternative Nobel Prize.

October 11, 2019:Despite being bookies' favourite to win, Thunberg misses out of the Nobel Peace Prize which goes toEthiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

November 2019:Caught out by a last-minute switch of location for U.N. climate talks from Chile to Spain, Thunberg hitches a ride on acatamaran boatcrossing back to Europe.

December 11, 2019:Thunberg denounces "clever accounting and creative PR" to mask a lack of real action on climate change in a speech at the U.N. COP25 summit as the 16-year-old becamethe youngest individualto be Time Magazine's person of the year.

March 13, 2020:As governments limit or ban mass gatherings to stem the spread of the new coronavirus, Thunberg urges students to make week 82 of theschool strike digital, with the hashtag #ClimateStrikeOnline.

March 24, 2020:Thunberg says the swift measures brought in to stem the coronavirus pandemic show that the world can also take therapid actionneeded to curb climate change. She alsosays on social mediathat she may have caught COVID-19.

April 30, 2020:Thunbergdonates a $100,000 awardshe received to UNICEF to buy soap, masks and gloves to protect children from the coronavirus pandemic.

July 20, 2020:Thunberg wins the firstGulbenkian Prize for Humanityand donates the 1 million euro prize money to charitable organisations.

January 31, 2021:Thunberg isagain nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, along with Russian dissident Alexei Navalny, the World Health Organization.

April 9, 2021:The activist says she will not attendCOP26 in Glasgow, due to run Nov. 1-12, because of concerns over vaccine inequality - but later changes her mind after the UK government offers to vaccinate all participants against COVID-19.

April 19, 2021:Thunberg saysherfoundation willgive 100,000 euros($120,000)to the WHO Foundation to support the COVAX vaccine-sharing scheme.

November 2, 2021:Protesting outside the COP26 climate talks in Glasgow, Thunberg says world leaders have "led us nowhere" and it is up to civil activists to bring about change.

"Change won’t come from these conferences like #COP26 unless there is big public pressure from the outside,"she tweeted.

Climate activist Greta Thunberg speaks on the Pyramid stage at Worthy Farm in Somerset during the Glastonbury Festival in Britain, June 25, 2022. REUTERS/Dylan Martinez

June 25, 2022: Festival-goers welcome Thunberg on stage at Britain’s Glastonbury festival, during a surprise appearance where she criticizes world leaders and tells the crowd they have the power to act now.

September 6, 2022: In the run-up to Sweden’s election on September 11, Thunberg accuses politicians of ignoring the climate crisis during their campaigns and treating it as if it were simply a problem rather than a life-or-death threat.

October 20, 2022: Thunberg tweets a petition calling for Egypt to release political prisoners ahead of the November COP27 summit. Thunberg has said she will not attend the conference in Egypt, saying that representatives from areas most affected by climate change are better spokespeople.

October 27, 2022: Thunberg publishes The Climate Book, which includes essays from more than 100 experts, including scientists, activists and indigenous leaders. Thunberg said proceeds from the book will go to charity.

October 30, 2022: A week before the U.N. COP27 climate summit, Thunberg says it is an opportunity for "greenwashing, lying and cheating" and she will not attend the conference.

November 25, 2022: A group of 600 young people, including Thunberg, file a lawsuit against Sweden for failing to take adequate steps to combat climate change.

December 29, 2022: Internet influencer Andrew Tate is arrested by Romanian police shortly after a viral Twitter spat with Thunberg. Social media users speculate his posts helped reveal his location - though police said they were unrelated.

January 13, 2023: Thunberg joins demonstrators in Germany to protest against the expansion of a lignite coal mine.

January 18, 2023: Thunberg says climate protest is not a crime after she was briefly detained for joining a demo opposing the demolition of a German village to make way for a coal mine.

February 27, 2023: Thunberg joins hundreds of protesters blocking the entrances to government buildings in Oslo, to oppose the use of Indigenous land for wind turbines.

Greta Thunberg is carried away by police officers as activits demonstrate outside the Ministry of Finance entrance and several other ministries in protest against the Fosen wind turbines not being demolished, which was built on land traditionally used by indigenous Sami reindeer herders, in Oslo, Norway, March 1, 2023. Alf Simensen/NTB/via REUTERS

March 1, 2023: Thunberg is detained twice during a demonstration outside Norwegian government buildings.

June 9, 2023: Thunberg graduates from school and takes part in her last school strike for climate.

July 24, 2023: Thunberg is convicted and fined for disobeying a police order to leave a protest in June - but is back at another protest hours later before being removed by the police.

July 28, 2023: Thunberg joins climate activists urging the UK government to ditch its planned Rosebank oil-field project.

This article was updated on July 28, 2023 at 13:11 GMT to include Thunberg's participation in a London protest against the Rosebank oil field.

(Reporting by Axelle Rescourio and Beatrice Tridimas; Editing by Sonia Elks and Helen Popper)

Context is powered by the Thomson Reuters Foundation Newsroom.

Our Standards: Thomson Reuters Trust Principles