By Calissa Jones
Four years ago, Malala Yousafzai shook the world with her campaign for girls’ education, which soon turned into a national feminist movement. Her work was rewarded with the Nobel Peace Prize, making her the youngest recipient at age seventeen. That may change, however, with a new activist coming into play: sixteen-year-old Greta Thunberg, a champion of climate change.
Thunberg’s story started last August on the steps of the Swedish parliament. With just a homemade sign, a few books, and an unshakable willpower to change things, she decided to skip school and be a sole protester against her country’s apathy toward climate change. After just a week, national coverage began on her crusade. Speeches, interviews, and her actions revealed her steadfast resolution; she was not about to let politicians throw away her future without trying to fix the problem. Three weeks later, she came back to school, still missing each Friday to protest and get the word out about her beliefs. Then, all of a sudden, word of the movement spread like wildfire after her speech at the climate talks in Poland. Her protests were finally coming to fruition; with the media’s focus on her, she had an audience.
Since then, students from nations everywhere have joined in her #FridayForFuture protest, turning what started with a single voice into a chorus of tens of thousands of youth’s voices from all across the world. All of this culminated on March 15th, when students from 50 countries skipped school to show their dedication to the cause. This worldwide strike also featured a letter to all from the activists. At least 500 protests occurred that day alone, and, as the letter says, their mission was simple: “United we will rise until we see climate justice. We demand the world’s decision-makers take responsibility and solve this crisis.”
In light of this, Greta Thunberg was recently nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by three Norwegian lawmakers for her work in uniting a generation concerned about their future. She, along with 300 candidates, could potentially win this award, but Thunberg is happy enough with the nomination. According to her, although the attention is strange, she says, “As soon as they write about me they have to write about the climate, so that’s good.” And that’s exactly the kind of focus and selflessness a leader on the fight against climate change should have, making her the perfect candidate.