This post was written by Analise Greenhalgh, an excellent member of our blogger team.
Climate change. It’s an issue that the world faces, but not everyone is helping create a change as big as Greta Thunberg. At 17 years old, she’s spoken at international summits, public protests and is currently a nominee for a Nobel Peace Prize.
But she hasn’t always been so celebrated. In her first ‘school strike for climate’, she was alone on a normal Swedish August Friday in 2018. She continued her protests every Friday, despite her parents and teachers urging her to go back to school.
Her efforts paid off. Greta Thunberg has inspired students all over the world to protest for what they believe in. Looking up #schoolstrike4climate on Instagram brings up 103,000 posts. It’s clear that students across the globe are going to have their say, whether through their protests or social media.
Once the world realised that this teenager had some really important things to say, she spoke at TEDxStockholm about her own personal experience of climate change. Then, she took a 32-hour train trip (she tries to keep her carbon footprint to a minimum, meaning she doesn’t use planes as a way to travel) and spoke to some of the most influential people in the world at the Davos World Economic Forum. Greta didn’t hold back- “Some people, some companies, some decision makers in particular know exactly what priceless values they have been sacrificing to continue making unimaginable amounts of money, and I think many of you here today belong to that group of people.” The signs and banners that wave across student protests are urging politicians, companies and the wealthy to make a change, to stop abusing the earth, and start making reparations so that the human race can continue to thrive and flourish.
Not only is her story demonstrative of how important it is to stand up for making a difference to climate change, she is also the perfect example of what one individual can achieve with perseverance. Things can feel hopeless, or not worth doing- but people like Greta Thunberg prove that with time, determination and passion, you can achieve beyond your expectations.
Featured image from Flickr.