How to write a biography

 Greta Thunberg (born 3 January 2003) is a Swedish activist. She is known for her work against climate change, a popular example of youth activism. She started protesting on 20 August 2018, outside of the Swedish Parliament in Stockholm. In December 2018, she attended the UN Climate Change Conference. In the next month, she gave a speech on the World Economic Forum in Davos.She has received many awards. Three Norwegian MPs nominated her for the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize. On 15 March 2019, approximately 1,400,000 people around the world, mainly students, protested against climate change. On 24 May 2019, a second major protest took place.

 

Greta Thunberg (born 3 January 2003)

 In December 2019, Time magazine named Thunberg Time Person of the Year 2019

Thunberg's activism began by persuading her parents to adopt lifestyle choices that reduced their own carbon footprint. In August 2018, at age 15, she started spending her school days outside the Swedish Parliament to call for stronger action on climate change by holding up a sign reading Skolstrejk för klimatet (School strike for climate). Soon other students engaged in similar protests in their own communities. Together they organised a school climate strike movement under the name Fridays for Future. After Thunberg addressed the 2018 United Nations Climate Change Conference, student strikes took place every week somewhere in the world. In 2019, there were multiple coordinated multi-city protests involving over a million students each. To avoid energy intensive flying, Thunberg sailed to North America where she attended the 2019 UN Climate Action Summit. Her speech there, in which she exclaimed "how dare you", was widely taken up by the press and incorporated into music. Her sudden rise to world fame has made her both a leader[9] and a target for critics,[10] especially due to her age. Her influence on the world stage has been described by The Guardian and other newspapers as the "Greta effect". She received numerous honours and awards, including an honorary Fellowship of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society, inclusion in Time's 100 most influential people, being the youngest Time Person of the Year, inclusion in the Forbes list of The World's 100 Most Powerful Women (2019), and three consecutive nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize (2019–2021)

Early life

Greta Thunberg was born on 3 January 2003. She is the oldest daughter of Malena Ernman, an opera singer and actor Svante Thunberg. Her grandfather is actor and director Olof Thunberg. At a TEDx speech in November 2018, Thunberg stated that she first heard about climate change at the age of eight, but could not understand why so little was being done about it.  At age 11, she had depression and stopped talking. Later, she was diagnosed with Asperger syndrome, obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD), and selective mutism. She added that selective mutism means that she was speaking only when she needed to and that "now is one of those moments". She further added that the "spectrum" was an advantage "as almost everything is black or white". She said: "I feel like I am dying inside if I don't protest".  She hands out leaflets outside the Swedish parliament with the phrase "I am doing this because you adults are shitting on my future." Her father doesn't like that she misses school but says: "[We] respect that she wants to make a stand. She can either sit at home and be really unhappy, or protest, and be happy".  To lower her family's carbon footprint, she insisted on becoming vegan and give up flying.  She said she persuaded her parents to give up eating meat by making them feel guilty. "I kept telling them that they were stealing our future."  Her mother gave up her international career as an opera singer.  Despite invitations to speak at international events, Greta also avoids flying.[14]

Thunberg says her teachers are divided in their views about her missing class to make her protest. She says: "As people they think what I am doing is good, but as teachers they say I should stop."[10] A teacher who supports her said: "Greta is a troublemaker, she is not listening to adults. But we are heading full speed for a catastrophe, and in this situation the only reasonable thing is to be unreasonable."[10]

Activism

In August 2018, Thunberg began the school climate strikes and public speeches for which she has become an internationally recognized climate activist. In an interview with Amy Goodman from Democracy Now!, she said she first got the idea of a climate strike after school shootings in the United States in February 2018 led to several youths refusing to go back to school.[17] These teen activists at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, went on to organize the March for Our Lives in support of greater gun control.[37][38] In May 2018, Thunberg won a climate change essay competition held by Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet. In part, she wrote "I want to feel safe. How can I feel safe when I know we are in the greatest crisis in human history?"[39]

After the paper published her article, she was contacted by Bo Thorén from Fossil Free Dalsland, a group interested in doing something about climate change. Thunberg attended a few of their meetings. At one of them, Thorén suggested that school children could strike for climate change.[40] Thunberg tried to persuade other young people to get involved but "no one was really interested", so eventually she decided to go ahead with the strike by herself.[17]

On 20 August 2018, Thunberg, who had just started ninth grade, decided not to attend school until the 2018 Swedish general election on 9 September; her protest began after the heat waves and wildfires during Sweden's hottest summer in at least 262 years.[24] Her demands were that the Swedish government reduce carbon emissions in accordance with the Paris Agreement, and she protested by sitting outside the Riksdag every day for three weeks during school hours with the sign Skolstrejk för klimatet (school strike for climate).[41][42]

Thunberg said her teachers were divided in their views about her missing class to make her point. She says: "As people, they think what I am doing is good, but as teachers, they say I should stop."[24]

Social media activism

Thunberg posted a photo of her first strike day on Instagram and Twitter, with other social media accounts quickly taking up her cause. High-profile youth activists amplified her Instagram post, and on the second day she was joined by other activists. A representative of the Finnish bank Nordea quoted one of Thunberg's tweets to more than 200,000 followers. Thunberg's social media profile attracted local reporters whose stories earned international coverage in little more than a week.[43]

One Swedish climate-focused social media company was We Don't Have Time (WDHT), founded by Ingmar Rentzhog. He said her strike only began attracting public attention after he turned up with a freelance photographer and posted Thunberg's photograph on his Facebook page and Instagram account, and a video in English that he posted on the company's YouTube channel.[44] Rentzhog subsequently asked Thunberg to become an unpaid youth advisor to WDHT. He then used her name and image without her knowledge or permission to raise millions for a WDHT for-profit subsidiary, We Don't Have Time AB, of which Rentzhog is the chief executive officer.[45] Thunberg received no money from the company[44] and terminated her volunteer advisor role with WDHT once she realized they were making money from her name.[46]

After October 2018, Thunberg's activism evolved from solitary protesting to taking part in demonstrations throughout Europe; making several high-profile public speeches, and mobilizing her growing number of followers on social media platforms. After the December 2018 general elections, Thunberg continued to strike only on Fridays. She inspired school students across the globe to take part in student strikes. That month, more than 20,000 students had held strikes in at least 270 cities.[47]

Thunberg spoke out against the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (Undergraduate) 2020 and Joint Entrance Examination 2020 entrance exams, which are being conducted in India in September. She said that it is unfair for students to appear for exams in the middle of a global pandemic. She also said that the students of India have been deeply impacted by the floods that hit states such as Bihar and Assam, which cause mass destruction for the citizens.[48]

On 3 February 2021, Thunberg tweeted[49] in support of the ongoing 2020–2021 Indian farmers' protest. Effigies of Thunberg were burned in Delhi by nationalists who were against the farmer protests; activists were also critical about international interference in India's internal matters.[50] Greta Thunberg's tweet received criticism from the Indian Government, which said that it was an internal matter.[51] In her initial tweet Thunberg linked to a document which provided a campaigning toolkit for those who wanted to support the farmers' protest. This toolkit contained advice on hashtags and how to sign petitions but also included suggested actions beyond those directly linked to the farmer's protest. She soon deleted the tweet, saying the document was "outdated" and linked to an alternative one[52][53] "to enable anyone unfamiliar with the ongoing farmers protests in India to better understand the situation and make decisions on how to support the farmers based on their own analysis".[54][55] The 22-year-old Indian climate activist who edited the toolkit, Disha Ravi, was arrested under the charges of sedition and criminal conspiracy on 16 February.[56]

Protests and speeches in Europe

Her speech during the plenary session of the 2018 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP24) went viral.[57] She commented that the world leaders present were "not mature enough to tell it like it is".[58] In the first half of 2019, she joined various student protests around Europe, and was invited to speak at various forums and parliaments. At the January 2019 World Economic Forum, Thunberg gave a speech in which she declared: "Our house is on fire."[59] She addressed the British, European and French parliaments, where in the latter case several right-wing politicians boycotted her.[60][61] In a short meeting with Thunberg, Pope Francis thanked her and encouraged her to continue.[62] By March 2019, Thunberg was still staging her regular protests outside the Swedish parliament every Friday, where other students occasionally joined her. According to her father, her activism has not interfered with her schoolwork, but she has had less spare time.[63] She finished lower secondary school with good grades.[64] In July 2019, Time magazine reported Thunberg was taking a "sabbatical year" from school, intending to travel in the Americas while meeting people from the climate movement.[65]

Sabbatical year

Further information: Voyage of Greta Thunberg

In August 2019, Thunberg sailed across the Atlantic Ocean from Plymouth, England, to New York, USA, in the 60-foot (18 m) racing yacht Malizia II, equipped with solar panels and underwater turbines. The trip was announced as a carbon-neutral transatlantic crossing serving as a demonstration of Thunberg's declared beliefs of the importance of reducing emissions.

France 24 reported that several crew would fly to New York to sail the yacht back to Europe.[66] The voyage lasted fifteen days, from 14 to 28 August 2019. Thunberg was invited to give testimony in the US House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis on 18 September. Instead of giving testimony, she gave an eight sentence statement and submitted the IPCC Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5 °C as evidence.[

Position on climate change

Thunberg believes that humanity is facing an existential crisis because of global warming[109] and collectively holds her generation's former adults and current elders responsible for creating the problem.[110] She uses graphic analogies (such as "our house is on fire") to highlight her concerns and often speaks bluntly to business and political leaders about their failure to take concerted action.[111][112]

Thunberg has said that climate change will have a disproportionate effect on young people whose futures will be profoundly affected. She argues that her generation may not have a future any more, because "that future was sold so that a small number of people could make unimaginable amounts of money".[113] She also has said that people in the Global South will suffer most from climate change, even though they have contributed least in terms of carbon dioxide emissions.[114] Thunberg has voiced support for other young activists from developing countries who are already facing the damaging effects of climate change. Speaking in Madrid in December 2019, she said: "We talk about our future, they talk about their present."[115]

Speaking at international forums, she berates world leaders that too little action is being taken to reduce global emissions.[116] She says that lowering emissions is not enough, and says emissions need to be reduced to zero if the world is to keep global warming to less than 1.5 °C. Speaking to the British Parliament in April 2019, she said: "The fact that we are speaking of "lowering" instead of "stopping" emissions is perhaps the greatest force behind the continuing business as usual".[117][118] In order to take the necessary action, she added that politicians should not listen to her, they should listen to what the scientists are saying about how to address the crisis.[119][117]

More specifically, Thunberg has argued that commitments made at the Paris Agreement are insufficient to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees, and that the greenhouse gas emissions curve needs to start declining steeply no later than 2020—as detailed in the IPCC's 2018 Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5° C.[120][113] In February 2019, at a conference of the European Economic and Social Committee, she said that the EU's current intention to cut emissions by 40% by 2030 is "not sufficient to protect the future for children growing up today" and that the EU must reduce their CO

2 emissions by 80%, double the 40% goal.[121][122]

Thunberg reiterated her views on political inaction in a November 2020 interview where she stated "leaders are happy to set targets for decades ahead, but flinch when immediate action is needed

Public response and impact

Thunberg has received both strong support and strong criticism for her work from politicians and the press.[124]

International reception

In February 2019, 224 academics signed an open letter of support stating they were inspired by Thunberg's actions and the striking school children in making their voices heard.[125] United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres endorsed the school strikes initiated by Thunberg, admitting that "My generation has failed to respond properly to the dramatic challenge of climate change. This is deeply felt by young people. No wonder they are angry."[126] Speaking at an event in New Zealand in May 2019, Guterres said his generation was "not winning the battle against climate change" and that it was up to the youth to "rescue the planet".[

Democratic candidates for the 2020 United States presidential election such as Kamala Harris, Beto O'Rourke, and Bernie Sanders expressed support after her speech at the September 2019 action summit in New York.[128] German Chancellor Angela Merkel indicated that young activists such as Thunberg had driven her government to act faster on climate change.[129]

Thunberg and her campaign have been criticized by politicians as well, such as the Australian prime minister Scott Morrison,[130] German chancellor Angela Merkel,[131] Russian president Vladimir Putin, OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) and repeatedly by U.S. president Donald Trump.[132] The criticism ranges from personal attacks to statements that she oversimplifies the complex issues involved.

Addressing her critics:

"It's quite hilarious when the only thing people can do is mock you, or talk about your appearance or personality, as it means they have no argument or nothing else to say."

— Greta Thunberg

Person of the Year

TIME magazine October 2019

In October 2019, Vladimir Putin described Thunberg as a "kind girl and very sincere", while suggesting she was being manipulated to serve others' interests. Putin criticized her as "poorly informed": "No one has explained to Greta that the modern world is complex and different and people in Africa or in many Asian countries want to live at the same wealth level as in Sweden." Similar to her reaction to Trump, Thunberg updated her Twitter bio to reflect Putin's description of her.[133] In December 2019, Thunberg tweeted "Indigenous people are literally being murdered for trying to protect the forrest [sic] from illegal deforestation. Over and over again. It is shameful that the world remains silent about this". When asked about this subject two days later, Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro responded: "Greta said that the Indians were dying because they were trying to protect the Amazon. It is impressive how the press gives voice to such a brat." On the same day, Thunberg changed her Twitter description to "pirralha", the Portuguese word for "brat" used by Bolsonaro.[134]

In September 2019, Donald Trump shared a video of Thunberg angrily addressing world leaders, along with her quote that "people are dying, entire ecosystems are collapsing. We are in the beginning of a mass extinction". Trump wrote about Thunberg, tweeting: "She seems like a very happy young girl looking forward to a bright and wonderful future. So nice to see!" Thunberg reacted by changing her Twitter bio to match his description, and stating that she could not "understand why grown-ups would choose to mock children and teenagers for just communicating and acting on the science when they could do something good instead".[135] In December 2019, President Trump again mocked Thunberg after she was named Person of the Year for 2019 by Time magazine: "So ridiculous", Trump tweeted. "Greta must work on her Anger Management problem, then go to a good old fashioned movie with a friend! Chill Greta, Chill!"[136] Thunberg responded by changing her Twitter biography to: "A teenager working on her anger management problem. Currently chilling and watching a good old fashioned movie with a friend."[137] During the 2020 United States presidential election Greta commented on Trump tweeting "STOP THE COUNT!" with the text "So ridiculous. Donald must work on his Anger Management problem, then go to a good old fashioned movie with a friend! Chill Donald, Chill!".[138][139]

In an interview with Suyin Haynes in Time magazine, Thunberg addressed the criticism she has received online saying: "It's quite hilarious when the only thing people can do is mock you, or talk about your appearance or personality, as it means they have no argument or nothing else to say."[140] Former US Vice President Joe Biden responded to President Trump's tweet mocking Thunberg after she was named Person of the Year 2019 by Time magazine by tweeting at Trump: "What kind of president bullies a teenager? @realDonaldTrump, you could learn a few things from Greta on what it means to be a leader."[141]

Press

In August 2019, Scott Walsman wrote in Scientific American that Thunberg's detractors have "launched personal attacks", "bash [her] autism", and "increasingly rely on ad hominem attacks to blunt her influence".[142] Writing in The Guardian, Aditya Chakrabortty said that columnists including Brendan O'Neill, Toby Young, the blog Guido Fawkes, as well as Helen Dale and Rod Liddle at The Spectator and The Sunday Times had been making "ugly personal attacks" on Thunberg.[143] British TV presenter Piers Morgan also mocked Thunberg.[144] As part of its climate change denial, Germany's far-right party Alternative for Germany has attacked Thunberg "in fairly vicious ways", according to Jakob Guhl, a researcher for the Institute for Strategic Dialogue.[145]

Arron Banks' Twitter post saying that "freak yachting accidents do happen in August..." outraged a number of British MPs (Member of Parliament), celebrities, and academics. Tanja Bueltmann, founder of EU Citizens' Champion, said Banks had "invoked the drowning of a child" for his own amusement and said that most of those attacking Thunberg "are white middle-aged men from the right of the political spectrum".[146] Writing in The Guardian, Gaby Hinsliff, said Thunberg has become "the new front in the Brexit culture war" arguing that the outrage generated by personal attacks on Thunberg by Brexiteers "gives them the welcome oxygen of publicity

Flight shame

Thunberg has spearheaded the anti-flying movement, promoting train travel over flying on environmental grounds.[161] The buzzword associated with this movement is flygskam or 'flight shame'.[162][163] It is a phenomenon in which people feel social pressure not to fly because of the rising greenhouse gas emissions of the airline industry. It was originally championed by Swedish Olympic athlete Björn Ferry, but has gained significant momentum after Thunberg's refusal to fly on environmental grounds. Thunberg backed the campaign to fly less, and made it part of her 2019 "awareness tour" in Europe.[164] Sweden has reported a 4% drop in domestic air travel for 2019 and an increase in rail use. The BBC says that the movement could halve the growth of global air travel, but Airbus and Boeing say that they still expect to grow at around 4% until 2035.[165][166] In June 2019, Swedish Railways (SJ) reported that the number of Swedes taking the train for domestic journeys had risen by 8% from the previous year, reflecting growing public concern (reflected in a survey published by the Swedish Railways) about the impact of flying on CO

2 emissions.[167]

Photoshopped Images and Fat Shaming

On April 17, 2021, Facebook user "James Hsieh" posted two photos with the phrase "How dare you?" featuring what appears to be Greta Thunberg. The commenters believe that the person in the picture is Greta Thunberg, that she is a lot fatter than in the past. The Factcheck Lab in Hong Kong have factchecked the two images and said that they are photoshopped. The Factcheck Lab had done further study and noted that many widespread images for fat-shaming Greta Thunberg are in fact either photoshopped images or old images before Thunberg become famous.[168] On May 7, 2021, after Greta Thunberg said that China's carbon emissions exceeded those of all developed countries combined, the official website of China Daily retaliated by mocking Thunberg's obesity, which Thunberg said was a weird fat-shaming tactic

Honours and awards

Thunberg has received honours and awards over the course of her activism. In May 2018, before the start of her school strike, she was one of the winners of a climate change essay competition by Svenska Dagbladet (The Swedish Daily News) for young people.[39] Thunberg has refused to attend ceremonies or accept prizes if it requires her to fly, such as for the International Children's Peace Prize.[196] She has received prizes from various NGOs, but also from scientific institutions that lauded her success in raising awareness.[197][198]

TIME'S 25 most influential teens of 2018, December 2018, an annual list compiled by Time magazine of the most influential teenagers in the world that year.[199]

Fryshuset scholarship, 2018, for Young Role Model of the Year.[200]

Nobel Peace Prize nomination, 2019, by three deputies of the Norwegian parliament.[201][202] Again in 2020 by two Swedish lawmakers.[203]

Swedish Woman of the Year (Årets Svenska Kvinna), March 2019, awarded by the Swedish Women's Educational Association to "a Swedish woman who, through her accomplishments, has represented and brought attention to the Sweden of today in the greater world".[204]

Rachel Carson Prize, March 2019, awarded to a woman who has distinguished herself in outstanding work for the environment in Norway or internationally.[205][206]

Goldene Kamera film and television awards, March 2019, special Climate Action Award. Thunberg dedicated the prize to the activists protesting against the destruction of the Hambach Forest, which is threatened by lignite mining.[207]

Fritt Ord Award, April 2019, shared with Natur og Ungdom, which "celebrates freedom of speech". Thunberg donated her share of the prize money to a lawsuit seeking to halt Norwegian oil exploration in the Arctic.[208]

TIME 100, April 2019, by Time magazine, an annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world for that year.[209]

Laudato si' Prize, April 2019, awarded under the second encyclical of Pope Francis, "on care for our common home".[210]

Doctor honoris causa (honorary doctorate), May 2019, conferred by the Belgian, University of Mons for "contribution...to raising awareness on sustainable development".[198][211]

Ambassador of Conscience Award, June 2019, Amnesty International's most prestigious award, for her leadership in the climate movement, shared with Fridays for Future.[212][213]

The Geddes Environment Medal, July 2019, by the Royal Scottish Geographical Society, for "an outstanding practical, research or communications contribution to conservation and protection of the natural environment and the development of sustainability".[214]

Honorary Fellowship of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society, July 2019, automatically conferred with the Geddes award.[215]

Right Livelihood Award, September 2019, from the Right Livelihood Foundation and known as Sweden's alternative Nobel Prize, one of four 2019 winners, "for inspiring and amplifying political demands for urgent climate action reflecting scientific facts".[216]

Keys to the City of Montréal, September 2019, by Mayor of Montréal Valérie Plante.[76]

International Children's Peace Prize, October 2019, shared with 14-year-old Divina Maloum from Cameroon, awarded by the KidsRights Foundation.[217]

Maphiyata echiyatan hin win (Woman Who Came from the Heavens), Lakota tribal name conferred, October 2019, at Standing Rock Indian Reservation, following support for the Dakota Access pipeline opposition, after being invited by Tokata Iron Eyes, a 16-year-old Lakota climate activist.[218][219]

Nordic Council Environment Prize, October 2019. Thunberg declined to accept the award or the prize money of DKK 350,000 (€47,000 as of October 2019) stating that Nordic countries were not doing enough to cut emissions.[220][221]

Time Person of the Year, December 2019, by Time magazine, the first recipient born in the 21st century and the youngest ever.[222][223] For succeeding in "creating a global attitudinal shift, transforming millions of vague, middle-of-the-night anxieties into a worldwide movement calling for urgent change".[224] And: "For sounding the alarm about humanity's predatory relationship with the only home we have, for bringing to a fragmented world a voice that transcends backgrounds and borders, for showing us all what it might look like when a new generation leads."[225]

Glamour Woman of the Year Award 2019, 12 November 2019, by Glamour magazine.[226] Accepted by Jane Fonda, quoting Greta as saying "If a Swedish, teenage, science nerd who has shopstop,[227] refuses to fly and has never worn makeup or been to a hairdresser can be chosen a Woman of the Year by one of the biggest fashion magazines in the world then I think almost nothing is impossible".[228]

Nature's 10, 2019, December 2019, an annual list of ten "people who mattered" in science, produced by the scientific journal Nature, specifically, for being a "climate catalyst: A Swedish teenager [who] brought climate science to the fore as she channeled her generation's rage".[197]

Forbes list of The World's 100 Most Powerful Women, 2019

Human Act Award, on Earth Day, 22 April 2020, by the Human Act Foundation, for "her fearless and determined efforts to mobilize millions of people around the world to fight climate change". The USD100,000 prize money was donated to UNICEF and doubled by the Foundation.[229]

Gulbenkian Prize for Humanity, 2020, the first recipient of this prize. Through her foundation, Thunberg donated the €1 million prize money "to charitable projects combatting the climate and ecological crisis and to support people facing the worst impacts, particularly in the Global South".[230]

Species named in Thunberg's honour

Craspedotropis gretathunbergae Schilthuizen et al., 2020, a new species of land snail from Borneo described in the family Cyclophoridae is named after Thunberg[231] and another new freshwater snail from New Zealand, Opacuincola gretathunbergae Verhaege & Haase, 2021, is dedicated to Thunberg.[232]

A new species of beetle Nelloptodes gretae from Kenya is also named after her.[233] Its long antennae bear a passing resemblance to her braided pigtails.[234][235][236]

Thunberga greta, June 2020, a new species of huntsman spider in a new genus Thunberga gen nov named after Thunberg by arachnologist Peter Jäger.[237] By 2021 the genus contained twenty-five newly named spiders, many in honour of other inspirational young people. All the new species come from Madagascar and Mayotte.[