Swedish activist Greta Thunberg announced this Friday that today would be her last “school strike for the climate” as she just graduated from high school. The young woman, 20 years old, published on his account on the social network Twitter a photo in which he poses with other young people wearing the traditional hat that Scandinavians are given when they graduate from school. “School strike week 251. I graduated today which means I can no longer participate in a school strike because of the weather. For me, this is the last school strike,” he said.
School strike week 251. Today I’m graduating from school and can therefore no longer strike for the climate. That will be the last school strike for me, so I guess I have to write something that day.
Thread🧵 pic.twitter.com/KX8hHFDyNG— Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) June 9, 2023
Thunberg assured that she would continue to take part in these protests, but made it clear: “There can no longer be talk of a school strike.” We simply have no choice but to do everything we can. The fight has only just begun.
In September 2018, the environmentalist, aged just 15, launched a weekly protest outside the Swedish parliament to demand decisive action on climate change. The then teenager decided to sit in front of the facility with a self-made banner that read “School strike for the climate”. Meanwhile, her father Svante watched her from afar. As awareness increased, the initiative spread like wildfire across social networks. In just over a year, he managed to bring four million people together on September 20, 2019 for the largest climate protest in history. This strike was later followed by people all over the world and the global movement Fridays for Future was born.
The initiative moved to COP26 in the Scottish city of Glasgow, where the Swede denounced the politicians’ inflexibility with one clear sentence: “The climate summit has become a two-week festival of conscience-washing, where everything stays the same.” is blah, blah, blah.” The next morning, the Scottish capital woke up to placards reading “Climate Action So Far: Blah, Blah, Blah” (“Climate Action So Far: Blah, Blah, Blah”). Among the thousands of young people who joined this movement were representatives of indigenous peoples from the Amazon, Latin America, Asia and various African countries.
Due to the enormous environmental impact of flights, the activist has maintained a flight ban for years, she cycles through her city, eats vegan and does not buy new but used clothes. Thunberg is committed to these daily actions, which are a role model for many. The young woman admitted she never thought her initiative would lead to anything and denounced that the world continues to move in the “wrong” direction.
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A global phenomenon
The Swede has become a global phenomenon with millions of followers on social media, has been named Time Magazine’s Person of the Year and has been nominated multiple times for the Nobel Peace Prize. In addition, he has managed to meet all sorts of world figures – from Pope Francis to former US President Barack Obama – and to deliver speeches at the United Nations and at the most important climate summits.
As the leader of protests to mitigate the climate crisis, she has also drawn strong criticism from some stationary circles – particularly the far right – who have accused her of seeking a backlash for society. She always remained steadfast: “It just shows how fragile some people are who don’t want to be taught, especially when it’s done by a young woman,” Thunberg explained in an interview with this newspaper.
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