When researching Greta Thunberg, I couldn’t help but think about what I was doing with my time when I was just 16. My main worries were extremely ordinary: how well I was going to do in my GCSE exams, if the guy I was dating at the time really did like me, and questioning “do my boobs look weird in this shirt?’. My 16-year-old mind was immensely mundane, and as I continue to read about Thunberg’s actions and the impact she is having on environmental activism today, I personally can’t help but idealise her.
Just last year, Thunberg staged her first ‘#SchoolStrikeForClimate’, in which her and her classmates made the statement of not attending school that day, to show her government the need for acknowledging the current Climate emergency. Her original aim was to encourage the Swedish government to explore the necessary steps needed to lower carbon emissions and restrict the irreversible impacts Climate Change is having on our environment.
Since then, her activism has led to tens of thousands of students all over the world fighting for the planet. From China to the UK, the USA to Italy, students continue to advocate for their futures, indicating to global governments the importance of Global Warming solutions and the urgent need for change. Her actions have caused a global revolt, with protests happening all over the world, every single week, and her voice becoming more and more well known by the day.
With her fame increasing, her admirers continue to grow. Like-minded young people who are conscious of the impacts Global Warming will have on their future can’t help but admire her actions. Thunberg has become a voice of the masses, creating a voice for those who are continued to be silenced by older generations, advocating for one of the most substantial issues of our time. Her face has become the forefront of youth activism, with her name constantly being in the news and discussed by academics around the world.
However, with this, like all good activists, she has faced such a level of criticism, which I as a young person can’t help but be frustrated by. Both tabloid media and online voices alike have criticized her current role in environmental protesting, for reasons such as her support for environmental protest group ‘Extinction Rebellion’ and their consistent partake in civil disobedience, as well as just plain, unexplainable rudeness (Why Piers Morgan continues to be one of the faces of UK prime TV, I will never understand). But despite this, she continues her fight.
At just 16 she has produced her own TedTalk, co-wrote two books and continues to travel all over the world to help support environmental protests. Greta Thunberg is a girl I believe will go down in history. Her impact on youth activism continues to be one of the most influential in our generation, and her voice will definitely continue to be one to be admired for many years to come.