Greta Thunberg

Biography

Greta Tintin Eleonora Ernman Thunberg was born on 3 January 2003 in Stockholm, Sweden. She is the daughter of opera singer Malena Ernman and actor Svante Thunberg. From an early age, Thunberg demonstrated an intense concern for environmental issues, and at age eleven she first learned about climate change and fell into a period of depression upon concluding that the world was not taking the crisis seriously enough. She has been open about her diagnoses of Asperger syndrome, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and selective mutism, describing her neurodivergence not as a limitation but as a factor that sharpened her focus on causes she considers important.

In August 2018, at age fifteen, Thunberg began skipping school on Fridays to stand outside the Swedish parliament, the Riksdag, holding a sign reading 'Skolstrejk för klimatet' (School Strike for Climate). Her solitary protest attracted widespread media attention and quickly inspired students around the world to stage their own strikes. By early 2019, the movement had grown into Fridays for Future, a global network of youth-led climate demonstrations that eventually mobilized millions of participants across dozens of countries in coordinated strikes.

Thunberg rapidly became one of the most recognized figures in the international climate debate. She addressed world leaders at the United Nations Climate Action Summit in New York in September 2019, delivering a widely broadcast speech in which she declared, 'How dare you,' directing pointed criticism at governments for what she described as inadequate action on climate change. That same year she sailed across the Atlantic Ocean on a zero-emissions racing yacht to avoid the carbon footprint of air travel, arriving in New York ahead of the UN summit. She was named Time magazine's Person of the Year for 2019 and received numerous awards, including the Right Livelihood Award, the Amnesty International Ambassador of Conscience Award, and the Rachel Carson Prize, among others.

Over subsequent years, Thunberg broadened her public engagement beyond climate issues to encompass human rights and global justice. She voiced solidarity with Ukraine following the Russian invasion, expressed support for Palestinian civilians during the conflict in Gaza, and spoke publicly about situations in Armenia and Cuba. In 2025, she twice participated in humanitarian flotillas attempting to reach the Gaza Strip, actions that drew both international attention and considerable political controversy. Her critics have questioned her rhetorical approach and her expanding focus, while her supporters argue that her willingness to connect environmental concerns with wider questions of justice reflects a coherent ethical position.

Thunberg is also the author and editor of several publications. Her short collection of speeches, No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference, has been widely read. She co-authored Scenes from the Heart with her family, and she edited The Climate Book, a collection of essays by scientists and experts intended to explain the full scope of the climate crisis to a general audience. Through her writing, speeches, and activism, she has maintained a consistent emphasis on scientific consensus and measurable policy targets as the basis for climate action.