Greta: Time Person of the Year
Greta Thunberg named Time Person of the Year for 2019
Greta Thunberg, the Swedish schoolgirl who inspired a global movement to fight climate change, has been named Time magazine's Person of the Year for 2019.The 16-year-old is the youngest person to be chosen by the magazine in a tradition that started in 1927.
Speaking at a UN climate change summit in Madrid before the announcement, she urged world leaders to stop using "creative PR" to avoid real action.
The next decade would define the planet's future, she said.
Last year, the teenager started an environmental strike by missing lessons most Fridays to protest outside the Swedish parliament building. It sparked a worldwide movement that became popular with the hashtag #FridaysForFuture.
Since then, she has become a strong voice for action on climate change, inspiring millions of students to join protests around the world. Earlier this year, she was nominated as a candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize.
At the UN Climate Conference in New York in September, she blasted politicians for relying on young people for answers to climate change. In a now-famous speech, she said: "You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words. We'll be watching you."
Reacting to the nomination on Twitter, the activist said: "Wow, this is unbelievable! I share this great honour with everyone in the #FridaysForFuture movement and climate activists everywhere."
The teenager's message, however, has not been well received by everyone, most notably prominent conservative voices. Before her appearance in Madrid, Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro called her a "brat" after she expressed concern about the killing of indigenous Brazilians in the Amazon.
"Greta said that the Indians died because they were defending the Amazon," Mr Bolsonaro told reporters. "It's impressive that the press is giving space to a brat like that," he said, using the Portuguese word for brat, "pirralha".
The activist responded by briefly changing her Twitter bio to "Pirralha".
She has previously been at odds with US President Donald Trump, who has questioned climate science and rolled back many US climate laws, and Russian President Vladimir Putin, who once called her a "kind but poorly informed teenager".
Announcing Time's decision on NBC, editor-in-chief Edward Felsenthal said: "She became the biggest voice on the biggest issue facing the planet this year, coming from essentially nowhere to lead a worldwide movement."
The magazine's tradition, which started as Man of the Year, recognises the person who "for better or for worse... has done the most to influence the events of the year". Last year, it named murdered and imprisoned journalists, calling them "The Guardians".
What happened in Madrid?
At the COP25 Climate Conference in Madrid, Greta Thunberg accused world powers of making constant attempts to find loopholes to avoid making substantial changes.
"The real danger is when politicians and CEOs are making it look like real action is happening when, in fact, almost nothing is being done apart from clever accounting and creative PR," she said, drawing applause.
Summits on climate change seemed "to have turned into some kind of opportunity for countries to negotiate loopholes and to avoid raising their ambition", she added.
"In just three weeks we'll enter a new decade, a decade that will define our future," she said. "Right now, we're desperate for any sign of hope."
Source: BBC News
Comments
It´s the first time that I have heard speak about Greta Thunberg. I think she is an important person because with 16 years old she inspires a global movement to fight climate change. In addition, she has been named Person of the Year for 2019 by the Time magazine. She has been the protagonist of the COP25 Climate Conference in Madrid and the media have written about her during this last month. As I suppose that this Swedish schoolgirl doesn´t have ideology yet and I think that the global movement to fight climate change is taking advantage of her age.
The teenager Greta said: "You have stolen my dreams and my childhood". That is very strong, especially if a lot of teenagers who are fighting to survive in the world wide listen her. Anyway, if Mr. Bolsonaro, Mr. Putin and M. Trump called her brat and poorly informed, it will be because she mush be important teenager.
Although you don´t agree absolutely with this movement, I think it´s convenient going on them because we can protect this planet against so many aggressions. In this way, I could go to my park and I wouldn´t step crystals, I would go near to rivers without plastic bags, I would swim into the sea so clean and so on. I would like that all movements look for solutions to problems instead of complaining.
Happy Chrismas.
I've just tweeted a video of other teenage activists - Greta has inspired a legion of annoying brats from well-off families who proclaim to be worldly-wise.
It´s the first time that I have heard Greta Thunberg spoken about (really???). I think she is an important person because at just 16 she has inspired a global movement to fight climate change. In addition, she has been named Person of the Year for 2019 by Time magazine. She has been the protagonist of the COP25 Climate Conference in Madrid and the media has written about her during this last month. I suppose that this Swedish schoolgirl doesn´t have an ideology yet and I think that the global movement to fight climate change is taking advantage of her age.
The teenager Greta said: "You have stolen my dreams and my childhood". This is very strong, especially if a lot of teenagers who are fighting to survive in the world listen to her. Anyway, if Mr. Bolsonaro, Mr. Putin and M. Trump called her a brat and poorly informed, it will be because she must be an important teenager.
Although you don´t agree at all with this movement, I think they are absolutely necessary because we can protect this planet against so many aggressions. This way, I could go to my park and I wouldn´t step on broken glass, I would go near rivers without plastic bags, I would swim in a clean sea and so on. I would like all movements to look for solutions to problems instead of complaining.
Have a lovely Christmas. Let your hair down.