Category Archives: Greta Thunberg

EU member states call for 2030 climate target

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Dozen member states hope letter will focus minds before Glasgow UN talks this year

A dozen countries have called for an EU climate target for 2030 to be drawn up “as soon as possible”, if the bloc is to galvanise the rest of the world before vital UN talks in Glasgow later this year.

In a letter to the EU’s top official on climate action, Frans Timmermans, the dozen EU member states say “the EU can lead by example and contribute to creating the international momentum needed for all parties to scale up their ambition” by adopting a 2030 EU greenhouse gas emissions reduction target “as soon as possible and by June 2020 at the latest”.

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Naomi Seibt: ‘anti-Greta’ activist called white nationalist an inspiration

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German teenager spoke at an event at US rightwing conference CPAC

A young campaigner who has been hailed by climate sceptics as the right’s answer to Greta Thunberg has previously described a white nationalist who appeared to promote “white genocide” theories as one of her “inspirations”.

Naomi Seibt, a 19-year-old from Münster, Germany, who styles herself as a “climate realist”, has also had to deny she made remarks that could be seen as antisemitic following an attack on a synagogue last year.

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Greta Thunberg and Malala Yousafzai meet at Oxford University

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Swedish climate activist visits Yousafzai’s college while in UK for Bristol youth protest

The teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg has met Malala Yousafzai at the University of Oxford where the Nobel peace prize winner is a student.

Yousafzai, 22, posted a photo on Instagram of herself and Thunberg sitting on a bench with their arms around each other on Tuesday, with the caption: “Thank you, @gretathunberg” and a heart emoji.

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Greta Thunberg’s mother reveals teenager’s troubled childhood

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Swedish opera singer Malena Ernman gives emotional account of daughter’s battles with autism and an eating disorder

Greta Thunberg’s extraordinary transformation from a near-mute 11-year-old into the world’s most powerful voice on the climate crisis is revealed today by her mother.

Related: Malena Ernman: ‘Greta was the child, we were the emperor. And we were all naked’

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Greta Thunberg files application to trademark her name

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Climate activist also applied to register name of climate movement Fridays for Future

The climate activist Greta Thunberg has said she has applied to register her name and that of the Fridays For Future movement she founded in 2018, which has gone global and catapulted her to international fame.

The move would allow legal action against persons or companies trying to use her name which are not in line with her values or that of her movement, she said.

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Africa is humanitarian ‘blind spot’: the world’s top 10 forgotten crises – report

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Climate emergency is fuelling drought, food poverty and disaster in the global south but humanitarian crises under-reported

The African continent is a “blind spot” for coverage of the humanitarian crises that are being fuelled by the climate emergency, according to a new analysis [pdf].

Madagascar’s chronic food crisis, where 2.6 million people were affected by drought in 2019, came top of the list of 10 of the most under-reported crises last year, Care International’s annual survey found.

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Trump blasts ‘prophets of doom’ in attack on climate activism

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Comment came as Greta Thunberg demanded immediate action in Davos

Donald Trump told the world’s business leaders to stop listening to “prophets of doom” as he used a keynote speech at the World Economic Forum to attack the teenage activist Greta Thunberg over her climate crisis warnings.

The US president hailed America’s growth record and compared campaigners against global heating with those who feared a population explosion in the 1960s and mass starvation in the 1970s.

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Climate activist turns down Siemens’ offer of seat on energy board

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Protest group leader Luisa Neubauer says she would lose right to criticise the company

The leader of Germany’s Friday for Future climate protests has said she turned down a seat on the board of Siemens’ new energy business amid growing anger over its role in a controversial coal mining project in Australia as she feared she would lose the right to criticise the company.

Luisa Neubauer, 23, the German face of the campaign group inspired by Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, who has campaigned alongside her, said on Monday the position would jeopardise her independence if she had taken up the offer from its chief executive, Joe Kaeser, made at a meeting in Berlin on Friday.

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Roger Federer responds to climate change criticism from Greta Thunberg

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  • Credit Suisse closely linked with fossil fuel industry
  • #RogerWakeUpNow has been trending on Twitter

Roger Federer has issued a cautiously worded response to mounting criticism, including from climate activist Greta Thunberg, over his sponsorship deal with Credit Suisse.

A dozen Swiss activists appeared in court on Tuesday after refusing to pay a fine for playing tennis inside branches of Credit Suisse bank in November 2018, in a stunt intended to underscore Federer’s relationship with the Swiss financial giant, which is closely linked with the fossil fuel industry.

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One year to save the planet: a simple guide to fighting the climate crisis in 2020

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Veganism might help and it’s always good to avoid flying. But the answer to Earth’s emergency must involve political, collective action – and there are countless ways to get active

The impact of the climate crisis is all too visible. Bushfires have killed more than 20 people in south-eastern Australia and forced thousands more to flee their homes. Floods and storms have left hundreds dead and many more destitute in Argentina, Uruguay, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Malawi. And in the UK, record temperatures were seen last summer and this winter.

Last year, people across the world took to the streets to demand goverments act to slash greenhouse gas emissions. Did you watch and wonder what you could do to help the global climate movement?

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Greta Thunberg changes Twitter name to Sharon after quiz show error

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Actor Amanda Henderson answered ‘Sharon’ to Thunberg-related question on Celebrity Mastermind – and the teen activist loved it

Greta Thunberg has been mocked and called many names since becoming the world’s most famous climate activist.

Related: Greta Thunberg: 'I wouldn't have wasted my time' speaking to Trump

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Greta Thunberg: climate activism has made her ‘very happy’, says father

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Svante Thunberg says he was concerned about his daughter’s school strike but that her campaigning had helped her beat depression

Greta Thunberg’s father has opened up about how activism helped his daughter out of depression but still worries about how she will deal with the impact of her international fame.

Speaking to the BBC to mark his daughter’s guest-editing slot on the Today programme, Svante Thunberg revealed he thought it was a “bad idea” for Greta to stage the school strike that catapulted her into the public eye.

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2019: the year in US protests – in pictures

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Tens of thousands of teachers walked off the job in Los Angeles, American women gathered for their third annual march in Washington, Iowans protested abortion bans, Texans declared Donald Trump ‘not welcome’ in El Paso and students in New York City rallied around Greta Thunberg in calling for action on climate change

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BBC put presenter on a plane to interview Greta Thunberg

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Sarah Sands, editor of BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, admits it ‘felt awkward’

Putting a presenter on a flight to Sweden to meet climate activist Greta Thunberg “felt awkward”, the editor of BBC Radio 4’s Today programme has admitted.

The 16-year-old campaigner, who was a guest editor on a special edition of the show, avoids air travel because of its environmental impact.

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2019: the photographs that defined America’s year – in pictures

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A look back at some of the biggest moments of the past year.

Warning: Some of the following images are graphic in nature and might be disturbing to some viewers.

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Russian climate activist inspired by Thunberg is jailed

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Arshak Makichyan had held a solo demonstration in Moscow for over 40 weeks before arrest

A Russian climate youth activist has been sentenced to six days in prison for taking part in a demonstration in Moscow.

Supporters said the punishment of Arshak Makichyan was disproportionately severe, and was one of the harshest crackdowns on student campaigners anywhere in the world.

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Michelle Obama sends Greta Thunberg message of support after Trump tweet

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Former first lady told climate activist ‘don’t let anyone dim your light’ after Trump said teen had an ‘anger management problem’

Michelle Obama has sent a public message of support to the 16-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg after the teenager was mocked by Donald Trump.

“@GretaThunberg, Don’t let anyone dim your light,” the former first lady wrote following a visit to Vietnam. “Like the girls I’ve met in Vietnam and all over the world, you have so much to offer us all. Ignore the doubters and know that millions of people are cheering you on.”

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Activists protest at ‘sidelining of social justice’ at UN climate talks

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Campaigners frustrated at how women and indigenous people have struggled to have voices heard

Youth climate activists have called for a global strike on Friday to protest that human rights and social justice have been sidelined at the UN climate talks in Madrid, where governments look set to wrap up two weeks of negotiations without a breakthrough on the pressing issue of greenhouse gas reduction.

Campaigners have been frustrated not only at the slow progress of the talks but also that groups representing women, indigenous people and poor people have struggled to have their voices heard within the conference halls where the official negotiations are taking place, even while 500,000 people took part in a mass protest in the streets outside last Friday.

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Greta Thunberg labelled a ‘brat’ by Brazil’s far-right leader Jair Bolsonaro

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  • Swedish activist tweeted about murders of indigenous people
  • President laments press attention for ‘pirralha [little brat]’

Brazil’s far-right president Jair Bolsonaro has derided Greta Thunberg​ after the teenage climate activist added her voice to growing international condemnation of a surge of anti-indigenous violence in the Amazon.

Related: Amazon indigenous leaders killed in Brazil drive-by shooting

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COP25 climate summit: put children at heart of tackling crisis, says UN

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Young activists including Greta Thunberg put pressure on negotiators to break deadlock

Children and young people must be at the heart of dealing with the climate crisis, the UN and campaigners have said as climate talks in Madrid enter their second week with little concrete progress.

Young people, including Greta Thunberg, played a leading role in protests at COP25 over the weekend, and on Monday appeared at the conference to put pressure on negotiators to come up with a plan for reducing greenhouse gases and tackling the impacts of climate breakdown.

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