Greta Thunberg, the Swedish school girl climate campaigner who has inspired worldwide protests, should be awarded this year’s Nobel Peace prize, Norwegian lawmakers said yesterday. “We have proposed Greta Thunberg because if we do nothing to halt climate change it will be the cause of wars, conflict and refugees,” Norwegian Socialist MP Freddy Andre Ovstegard said.
“Greta Thunberg has launched a mass movement which I see as a major contribution to peace,” he added. Six months ago no one knew who Thunberg was when, as a 15-year-old, she camped outside Sweden’s parliament next to a hand-written sign: “SCHOOL STRIKE FOR CLIMATE”. Since then she has gone global, striking a chord with younger people disillusioned by the slow progress of the adult world in halting climate change.
On Friday, thousands of students are expected to demonstrate in more than 100 countries in what activists say could be a milestone moment. “We are only seeing the beginning,” Thunberg, now 16, tweeted recently. “I think that change is on the horizon and the people will stand up for their future.”
