The young climate activist has been recognized as the magazine's annual Person of the Year. The 16-year-old has torn into world leaders for the lack of action in the face of a climate crisis.
Image: Reuters/J. Barbancho
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Teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg was named Time magazine's Person of the Year on Wednesday.
The 16-year-old is the figurehead of global climate change activism, urging governments to listen to scientists and take action against climate change.
What started as a solitary weekly school strike outside Swedish parliament morphed into a global campaign of weekly strikes to force governments to do something against the climate crisis.
Thunberg sailed across the Atlantic and back to attend the international COP 25 climate talks in a carbon-free manner after Chile canceled the summit and Spain agreed to host them instead.
Thunberg in Madrid
The Swedish activist addressed the COP25 summit in Madrid on Wednesday, where she accused wealthier nations of inventing ways to avoid slashing their greenhouse gas emissions.
She said the annual conference had become an "opportunity for countries to negotiate loopholes and to avoid raising their ambition" to act on climate. "Countries are finding clever ways around having to take real action."
Although negotiations are entering their final days, nations have encountered several sticking points in finalizing the rulebook of the 2015 landmark Paris climate accord, which aims to limit global temperature rises to "well below" two degrees Celsius and to a safer cap of 1.5C if possible
Countries have butted heads over how the fight against the climate crisis should be funded and how carbon trading schemes should be regulated. They have also failed to gain headway over how already-affected countries should be compensated for dealing with the effects of climate change.
"Recently a handful of rich countries pledged to reduce their emission of greenhouse gases by so and so many percent by this or that date, or to become climate neutral or net zero in so and so many years," Thunberg said in Madrid.
"This may sound impressive at first glance, but even though the intentions may be good this is not leadership. This is not leading, this is misleading."
Climate change strikes worldwide — in pictures
Another round of global climate protests began on Friday ahead of the 12-day UN climate conference. Representatives from 200 countries are meeting in Madrid to finalize the "rulebook" for the 2015 Paris climate treaty,
Image: Getty Images/AFP/S. Khan
Diving in with the rest
Young activists in Berlin took a dip in the city's Spree River to demonstrate their desire for more action on climate change. Their protest took place as Germany's upper house of parliament passed a raft of measures aimed at cutting emissions. However, critics of the package said it did not go far enough.
Image: Reuters/H. Hanschke
Wanting a new start
Thousands of protesters gathered in front of Berlin's Brandenburg Gate to voice dissatisfaction with a perceived lack of urgency on the part of the government. Some 50,000 people took part, demanding a "new start" for the government's climate policy.
Image: Reuters/H. Hanschke
Tide of opinion
"The climate is changing, why aren't we?" ask these protesters Rome. The historic Italian city of Venice was recently flooded, with the local mayor blaming climate change for the highest tide in 50 years. Climate protests took place in 138 Italian towns and cities, according to Fridays for Future Italia, including in major urban centers like Rome, Milan, Turin, Naples and Palermo.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/A. Solaro
Message for the government
Activists and schoolchildren in Sydney kicked off the latest round of global protests against climate change on Friday by picketing the headquarters of Australia's ruling party. The protesters — brandishing placards that read "You're burning our future" and chanting "we will rise" — turned out as Sydney was again enveloped in toxic smoke caused by bushfires.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/S. Khan
Koalas under threat
The protests have taken on extra urgency in Australia — the country's southeast has been devastated by hundreds of damaging bushfires in recent weeks. Wildfires and drought have left the koala bear on the verge of "functional" extinction.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/S. Khan
Japan — a victim of extremes
Hundreds of people marched through Tokyo's Shinjuku district to show their support for the Fridays For Future movement. Japan is no exception to abnormal weather patterns around the world in recent years. The island nation has been hit by increasingly frequent typhoons, and also by hotter weather. In October, Typhoon Hagibis ripped through central and north-eastern Japan, killing scores of people.
Image: Getty Images/C. Court
Forests For Future
Demonstrations also took place in Indonesia, where – in an effort to to protect tropical
forests - the government has issued a temporary ban on permits for palm plantations. However, critics say a lack of transparency has made it difficult to evaluate the moratorium's effectiveness. The global palm oil trade has been blamed as a major contributor to climate change by causing loss of vegetation.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/B. Ismoyo
Something in the air
In Delhi — the world's most polluted capital — students staged a march to the environment ministry carrying placards and demanding that the government declare a climate emergency. The country is one of the biggest sources of greenhouse gases and has 14 of the 15 most polluted cities in the world, according to a UN study.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/A. Sankar
Targeting international talks
The protests took place as negotiators from some 200 countries prepared to meet for the COP25 climate conference in Madrid. Participants are seeking clearer rules on how to meet the requirements of the 2015 Paris agreement on climate change. The accord aims to limit the increase in global average temperature to well below 2 degrees Celsius.
Image: Getty Images/J. McCawley
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Time magazine praised her for inspiring millions of people to protest against climate inaction and facing the world's most powerful people.
"In the 16 months since, she has addressed heads of state at the U.N., met with the Pope, sparred with the President of the United States and inspired 4 million people to join the global climate strike on September 20, 2019, in what was the largest climate demonstration in human history," the magazine said.
"Margaret Atwood compared her to Joan of Arc. After noticing a hundredfold increase in its usage, lexicographers at Collins Dictionary named Thunberg’s pioneering idea, climate strike, the word of the year," Time said.
The magazine interviewed her as she sailed from the US to Portugal.
Greta on Wednesday said she was "a bit surprised" to be bestowed the title. She told the Associated Press that she wanted to dedicate the award to all young activists.
