Greta Thunberg Biography Quotes 11 Report mistakes

Early Life and Family
Greta Tintin Eleonora Ernman Thunberg was born on 3 January 2003 in Stockholm, Sweden. She is the elder daughter of opera singer Malena Ernman, who represented Sweden in the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest, and actor Svante Thunberg. Her younger sister, Beata, has pursued music and public performance. Greta's maternal grandfather is the producer and director Hans Ernman; her paternal grandfather, the actor and director Olof Thunberg, was a well-known figure in Swedish theater and film. The family's public profile later helped amplify Greta's climate message, even as they sought to keep her activism focused on science and policy rather than celebrity.

Formative Years and Personal Challenges
Greta learned about climate change at school when she was eight and became deeply distressed by the mismatch between scientific warnings and political inaction. At age eleven she experienced a period of depression and stopped eating for a time; she was later diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome (autism spectrum), obsessive-compulsive disorder, and selective mutism. Greta has described her neurodivergence as a "superpower" that sharpened her focus on evidence and ethics. With her encouragement, the family reduced its carbon footprint: they adopted a plant-based diet, installed solar panels, and stopped flying, changes that featured in a family memoir about reshaping their lives around climate reality.

School Strike for Climate and the Birth of Fridays for Future
In August 2018, ahead of Sweden's general election, Greta began a solo protest outside the Swedish Parliament (the Riksdag) with a handmade sign reading "Skolstrejk för klimatet" (School Strike for Climate). She called for Sweden to align its policies with the Paris Agreement. What began as a daily strike through election day evolved into Friday strikes during the school term and sparked a global youth movement known as Fridays for Future. By 2019, coordinated student-led demonstrations drew millions in cities around the world, with landmark global strikes in March and September. The movement's core demand, "unite behind the science", became a defining refrain.

Global Stage: Speeches and Key Moments
Greta's direct language and reliance on scientific assessment propelled her quickly onto the international stage:
- TEDxStockholm (2018): She urged adults to "change the rules" rather than just individual habits.
- COP24, Katowice (2018): She told negotiators they were "not mature enough" to tell the truth about the crisis.
- World Economic Forum, Davos (2019 and later): Her "Our house is on fire" message crystallized the urgency for many listeners.
- European and UK Parliaments (2019): She pressed lawmakers to treat climate breakdown as an emergency.
- United Nations Climate Action Summit, New York (2019): Her "How dare you" address challenged leaders for failing younger generations.
- Youth4Climate and COP26, 2021: In Milan and at rallies around the Glasgow summit, she criticized "blah, blah, blah" promises and greenwashing.

Greta also met figures such as Pope Francis (2019), who encouraged her to continue, and engaged European leaders and UN officials in formal and informal settings.

Travel Choices and Symbolism
To avoid aviation emissions, Greta traveled by train across Europe and crossed the Atlantic twice by sailboat in 2019. She sailed to New York on the zero-emission racing yacht Malizia II and returned to Europe aboard the catamaran La Vagabonde. These journeys, while not a prescription for mass travel, were intended to highlight the scale of emissions from flying and the need for systemic changes in transport and energy.

Publications and Media
Greta's speeches were collected in No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference (2019). She curated The Climate Book (2022), assembling contributions from scientists, Indigenous leaders, economists, engineers, historians, and activists to map the crisis and solutions. With her family she co-authored Our House Is on Fire: Scenes of a Family and a Planet in Crisis (2020). The documentary I Am Greta (2020), directed by Nathan Grossman, followed her early activism and travels.

People Around Her and Movement Allies
Greta's activism has been supported and challenged by a wide network:
- Family: Malena Ernman and Svante Thunberg helped reshape the family's lifestyle and supported Greta's travel and safety; her sister Beata likewise became a public voice on youth well-being.
- Youth activists: Luisa Neubauer (Germany) emerged as a principal organizer of Fridays for Future in Europe; Vanessa Nakate (Uganda) founded the Rise Up Movement, focusing attention on African perspectives; Alexandria Villaseñor (United States) co-founded the U.S. Youth Climate Strike. Greta often emphasized collective leadership and credited countless organizers who built local chapters worldwide.
- Scientists and advocates: She frequently cites the work of the IPCC and has collaborated in public forums with researchers and communicators such as Bill McKibben and Naomi Klein, among many others, to connect activism with evidence.

Legal and Political Engagement
Greta has participated in nonviolent civil disobedience and climate litigation:
- UN petition (2019): Along with 15 other youths, she petitioned the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child against several high-emitting countries, alleging failure to protect their rights; the committee declined the case on procedural grounds while acknowledging the seriousness of the issues.
- Sweden (Aurora case, 2022, ): Greta joined hundreds of young people in a lawsuit arguing that Sweden's climate policies are insufficient to safeguard human rights; Swedish courts admitted the case for review.
- Peaceful protest actions: She has been briefly detained at demonstrations, including at the Lützerath coal site in Germany (2023). In Sweden (2023) she was fined for disobeying a police order during a port blockade in Malmö. In the UK, charges brought after a 2023 protest in London were dismissed by a court in early 2024.

Awards, Recognition, and Philanthropy
Greta became Time's 2019 Person of the Year, the youngest ever. She received the Right Livelihood Award (2019) and Amnesty International's Ambassador of Conscience Award (2019). In 2019 she declined the Nordic Council's Environment Prize, stating that the climate movement needed policy and emissions cuts, not more accolades. She was awarded the Gulbenkian Prize for Humanity (2020) and channeled the prize funds through the Greta Thunberg Foundation to organizations working on climate relief, environmental protection, and social justice, including pandemic-related initiatives.

Ideas, Style, and Impact
Greta's communication style is spare, literal, and evidence-driven. She foregrounds the carbon budget, cumulative emissions, and the need for rapid, equitable phaseout of fossil fuels. She insists that change must be systemic, rooted in science-based targets, transparent accounting of emissions, and policies that protect the most vulnerable. She also emphasizes intergenerational justice and often reframes praise by redirecting attention to frontline communities, scientists, and local organizers. Her presence helped catalyze one of the largest youth-led mobilizations in modern history and pushed climate urgency up the political agenda worldwide.

Recent Activities and Ongoing Work
Greta completed her secondary education in 2023 and noted that her weekly "school strikes" had ended as schooling did, but she continues Friday protests and public advocacy. She remains active with Fridays for Future, participates in hearings, forums, and rallies, and supports strategic litigation aimed at aligning national policies with the Paris Agreement. In 2022, 2024 she focused attention on fossil-fuel expansion, greenwashing in corporate and diplomatic arenas, and the need for wealthier nations to accelerate emissions cuts and climate finance. Through writing, public speaking, movement-building, and targeted civil resistance, she continues to press institutions to act at the speed and scale that climate science demands.

Our collection contains 11 quotes who is written by Greta, under the main topics: Motivational - Justice - Nature - Change - Betrayal.

• Greta Thunberg books: No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference; The Climate Book; co-authored Our House Is on Fire.
• Greta Thunberg now: Continues climate activism with Fridays for Future, speaking and campaigning in Sweden and internationally.
• Greta Thunberg boat: Crossed the Atlantic on the zero-emission yacht Malizia II in 2019 (returned on La Vagabonde).
• Beata Thunberg: Greta's younger sister, a Swedish singer and performer.
• What is Greta Thunberg net worth? Not publicly disclosed; media estimates vary and are unverified.
• How old is Greta Thunberg? She is 23 years old

• 2018 No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference (Collection of speeches)
• 2018 Our House Is on Fire: Scenes of a Family and a Planet in Crisis (Memoir)

• Wikipedia
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