Greta Thunberg earns Nobel Prize buzz following UN speech

The teenage climate activist is tipped as a frontrunner to win this year’s Nobel Peace Prize.

The public is betting on Greta Thunberg following her impassioned tirade against world leaders’ failure to act against the climate crisis. The now-viral speech was delivered late September at the 2019 United Nations Climate Summit.

As one of the most influential voices of climate action, Thunberg managed to rouse millions of youth to go on a school strike every week. The international movement is known as the following titles: Fridays for Future, Youth for Climate, Climate Strike, Youth Strike 4 Climate. It encourages students to take Fridays off of class to participate in peaceful demonstrations for the planet. Those who participate urge leaders to act against global warming and demand that climate change action is done immediately.

Thunberg is currently out of school for a year to travel around the globe in a worldwide campaign to fight against climate change. The 16-year-old began Fridays for Future on her own outside of Stockholm’s Swedish parliament in August. In a short amount of time, Thunberg became the face of climate action. Now, she participates in world affairs to further the cause.

Amnesty International honored the young Swede with “Ambassadors of Conscience”. This is the highest human rights award honored to those who advocate for noteworthy causes.

Speaking to the Sun, the head of the Stockholm International Peace Institute said about Thunberg: “What she has done over the past year is extraordinary.”

“Climate change is an issue which is strongly related to security and peace,” he adds.