Who is Greta Thunberg, the teenage climate change activist?
Greta Thunberg: What does the teenage climate change activist want?
(30 days later)
One day in late August 2018, Greta Thunberg took up position outside Sweden's Parliament for the first time. She held a simple sign, black letters on a white board, that said "School Strike for Climate."
Greta Thunberg is the Swedish teenager who skipped school and inspired an international movement to fight climate change.
"It felt like I was the only one who cared about the climate and the ecological crisis," she told the BBC. The 15-year-old was by herself, but not for long.
She has become a leading voice, inspiring millions to join protests around the world. On Friday, she addressed students in Bristol.
Within a year, her school strike, carried on through all weather, had inspired millions of young people around the world to take to the streets and demand action on climate change.
But who is she and what does she want?
As thousands of students again protest in major global cities, here's a look at what we know about the teenager who started it all.
Who is Greta Thunberg?
Where did she grow up?
She is a 17-year-old who grew up in Stockholm, in Sweden. Greta's mother, Malena Ernman, is an opera singer and former Eurovision Song Contest participant.
Ms Thunberg, the elder of two girls, was born on 3 January, 2003. She grew up in Stockholm with her mother Malena Ernman, an opera singer and former Eurovision Song Contest participant, and her actor father Svante Thunberg. Her father is a descendant of Svante Arrhenius, a scientist who came up with a model of the greenhouse effect. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1903.
Her father Svante Thunberg, is an actor, and is a descendant of Svante Arrhenius, a scientist who came up with a model of the greenhouse effect. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1903.
Ms Thunberg said her parents were "as far from climate activists as possible" before she made them aware of the issue. She persuaded her parents to become vegan, and in 2016 convinced her mother to stop flying, despite her mother frequently travelling overseas for work.
The elder of two girls, she says she learned about climate change when she was eight, but that her parents were not climate activists.
They have co-written a book with their daughter called Our House is on Fire: Scenes of a Family and a Planet in Crisis. It is set to be released in March.
Greta has Asperger's syndrome, a developmental disorder, and has described it as a gift and said being different is a "superpower".
Ms Thunberg has Asperger's Syndrome, a developmental disorder, and has described it as a gift and a superpower.
When did she start campaigning?
How did she get involved in protesting?
In May 2018, aged 15, Greta won a climate change essay competition in a local newspaper.
She says she first learned about climate change when she was eight and couldn't understand why people weren't taking action.
Three months later, in August, she started protesting in front of the Swedish parliament building, vowing to continue until the Swedish government met the carbon emissions target agreed by world leaders in Paris, in 2015.
"I remember thinking it was very strange that we were capable of changing the entire face of the Earth and the precious thin layer of atmosphere that makes it our home. Because if we were capable of doing this, then why weren't we hearing about it everywhere?" she wrote in the Guardian.
She held a sign that read "School Strike for Climate" and began regularly missing lessons to go on strike on Fridays, urging students around the world to join her.
In May 2018, Ms Thunberg won a climate change essay competition in a local newspaper. Three months later, she decided to start protesting in front of the Swedish parliament building, vowing to continue until the government met the carbon emissions target set out by world leaders in Paris in 2015.
Her protests went viral on social media and as support for her cause grew, other strikes started around the world, spreading with the hashtag #FridaysForFuture.
Ms Thunberg said her parents weren't enthusiastic about her protest at the start, and told her that she would have to do it without their help.
By December 2018, more than 20,000 students around the world had joined her in countries including Australia, the UK, Belgium, the US and Japan. She joined strikes around Europe, choosing to travel by train to limit her impact on the environment.
How did her protests grow into a global movement?
What has she done since then?
After she was pictured outside the Swedish parliament building with her sign, the teenager's protests went viral on social media.
The teenager took the whole of 2019 off school to continue campaigning, to attend key climate conferences, and to join student protests around the world.
As support for her cause grew, other strikes started around the world, and the message spread with the hashtag #FridaysForFuture. By December 2018, more than 20,000 students around the world had joined her in countries including Australia, the UK, Belgium, the US and Japan.
In September 2019, she travelled to New York to address a UN climate conference. Greta refuses to fly because of its environmental impact, so she made her way there on a racing yacht, in a journey that lasted two weeks.
Ms Thunberg travelled to some of the strikes in Europe, choosing to travel by train to limit her impact on the environment.
When she arrived, millions of people around the world took part in a climate strike, underlining the scale of her influence. Addressing the conference, she blasted politicians for relying on young people for answers to climate change.
In April, she made an appearance at the Extinction Rebellion protests in London, telling the crowd: "For way too long, the politicians and the people in power have gotten away with not doing anything. We will make sure that politicians will not get away with it for any longer."
She said: "How dare you? I shouldn't be up here. I should be back in school on the other side of the ocean, yet you all come to us young people for hope. How dare you?"
In September, Ms Thunberg travelled to New York address the UN Climate Conference. She made her way there on a zero-emissions boat in a journey that lasted two weeks.
She was named Time Magazine's Person of the Year.
The week of her arrival, millions of people around the world took part in a climate strike, underlining the scale of her influence.
What does she want?
During her address at the UN, she blasted politicians for relying on young people for answers to climate change.
Greta says big governments and businesses around the world are not moving quickly enough to cut carbon emissions and has attacked world leaders for failing young people.
"How dare you," she said. "I shouldn't be up here. I should be back in school on the other side of the ocean, yet you all come to us young people for hope. How dare you?
Initially, her protests focused on the Swedish government's climate targets, and she urged students around the world to make similar demands in their own countries.
"You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words. We will be watching you."
But as her fame has grown, she has called for governments around the world to do more to cut global emissions. She has spoken at international meetings, including the UN's 2019 climate change gathering in New York, and this year's World Economic Forum in Davos.
At the end of 2019, she was named Time Magazine's Person of the Year.
At the forum, she called for banks, firms and governments to stop investing and subsidising fossil fuels, such as oil, coal and gas. "Instead, they should invest their money in existing sustainable technologies, research and in restoring nature," she said.
What do her critics say?
What do people say about her?
Her message has not been well received by everyone, most notably prominent conservative voices. But she has responded defiantly and often with humour.
Millions of students around the world have been inspired by her strikes, and Greta has received support from climate activists, scientists, world leaders and the Pope, who told her to "continue" her work.
After her UN appearance, US President Donald Trump appeared to mock her by saying she "seems like a very happy young girl looking forward to a bright and wonderful future".
Broadcaster and naturalist Sir David Attenborough told her she had achieved things many others have failed to do, adding: "you have aroused the world. I'm very grateful to you."
Ms Thunberg then changed her Twitter biography to include Mr Trump's words. She did the same weeks later when Russian President Vladimir Putin called her a "kind but poorly informed teenager".
But her message has not been well received by everyone. After her UN appearance in September 2019, US President Donald Trump appeared to mock her by saying she "must work on her anger management problem".
In January, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told the teenager to go away and study economics before lecturing investors. His comments came after she called on world leaders to abandon fossil fuels at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
Greta then changed her Twitter biography to include Mr Trump's words. She did the same weeks later when Russian President Vladimir Putin called her a "kind but poorly informed teenager". In January, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told the teenager to go away and study economics before lecturing investors.
As for the teenager's schooling, she took the whole of 2019 off school to be able to attend the climate conference in New York and the world's major annual climate summit in Madrid in December.
