A Swedish schoolgirl Greta Thunberg, 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.
According to Greta, the next decade would define the planet’s future.
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 loud voice for action on climate change, inspiring millions of students to join protests around the world. She was also nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, this year.
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.”
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 inherent Brazilians in the Amazon.
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”.