PA ImagesShe might only be 17 years old, but Greta Thunberg has already achieved a lot more than most of us could ever dream of.
The climate activist has inspired an entire generation of young people with her ‘Fridays for Future’ movement, held powerful politicians to account for their inaction, and been named Time Magazine‘s 2019 Person of the Year.
Oh, and she’s been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for the second year running. No biggie.
PA ImagesTwo Swedish politicians, Jens Holm and Hakan Svenneling, put Thunberg forward for the 2020 award, saying she has ‘worked hard to make politicians open their eyes to the climate crisis’.
On Monday, the pair said, as per the Evening Standard:
Action for reducing our emissions and complying with the Paris Agreement is therefore also an act of making peace.
The deadline to submit nominations for the prestigious honour was Sunday, February 2, with Thunberg’s being her second after three Norwegian politicians nominated her last year.
PA ImagesIn fact, for quite some time the climate activist was the favourite to win the honour last year, at least in the betting world, as Thunberg was the bookies’ favourite to win at 4/7.
For those of you who are relatively unfamiliar with betting, like me, at those odds if you placed a bet of £10, you’d only see £15.71 back. In other words, the teenager was a pretty safe bet.
Ultimately though, the prize went to Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed for his efforts to ‘achieve peace and international cooperation’, with his peace deal with Eritrea ending a 20-year military stalemate following their 1998-2000 border war.
PA ImagesAt the time, some critics expressed doubt about Thunberg’s chances of winning the award, citing her age and qualifications as reasons why she shouldn’t receive the Nobel Peace Prize.
However, I’d argue such things have little-to-no relevance on her suitability for the prize, particularly because she’s made more of an impact than some (most) world leaders – who for the most part are significantly older than her and highly qualified in their fields, yet have sat on the sidelines as the climate crisis gets worse.
In Donald Trump’s case, it’s not so good, as the President of the United States hasn’t just sat by. Instead, he’s actively made the situation worse, continually denying that climate change is real and even withdrawing from the Paris Agreement as soon as he became president.
PA ImagesThe 17-year-old, on the other hand, has ignited a massive worldwide movement and has actually made a difference, encouraging people to stand up and take action.
So it’s no wonder she’s received a second nomination for perhaps the most prominent accolade in the world.
You go, Greta.
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A Broadcast Journalism Masters graduate who went on to achieve an NCTJ level 3 Diploma in Journalism, Lucy has done stints at ITV, BBC Inside Out and Key 103. While working as a journalist for UNILAD, Lucy has reported on breaking news stories while also writing features about mental health, cervical screening awareness, and Little Mix (who she is unapologetically obsessed with).