greta thunberg biography pdf

Greta Thunberg

Greta Thunberg is a Swedish climate youth activist who has received worldwide recognition for her efforts to fight climate change.

Who Is Greta Thunberg?

Greta Thunberg is a Swedish climate youth activist who sparked an international movement to fight climate change beginning in 2018. With the simple message "School strike for climate" handwritten on poster board, Thunberg began skipping school on Fridays and protesting outside the Swedish Parliament. Thanks to social media, her actions have spread and influenced millions of young people all over the world to organize and protest.

Launching "Fridays For Future," Thunberg and other concerned youths throughout Europe have continued to pressure leaders and lawmakers to act on climate change through their regular walkouts. Thunberg has also traveled the world, meeting with global leaders and speaking at assemblies to demand climate solutions and a recommitment to the Paris Agreement. Recently diagnosed with Asperger's, the activist has publicly shared her views on her disorder, referring to it as her "superpower."

Thunberg was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in March 2019, and a few months later she became the youngest individual ever to be honored as Time 's Person of the Year.

Thunberg was born on January 3, 2003, in Stockholm, Sweden. Thunberg began her climate activism at age 15. Thunberg was born and raised in an artistic family. Her mother, Malena Ernman, is an opera singer, and her father, Svante Thunberg, is an actor. She has a younger sister, Beata, who is a popular singer in Sweden. Like her sister, Beata has been open about her own challenges dealing with disorders like ADHD and OCD.

Climate Activism

Thunberg was only eight when she first learned about the climate crisis. Since then, she has made efforts to lower her carbon footprint by not flying and becoming vegan and has influenced her family to do the same.

"You are not mature enough to tell it like is," she said at the summit, addressing the Secretary-General. "Even that burden you leave to us children. But I don't care about being popular. I care about climate justice and the living planet."

Cross-Atlantic Trip to the United States

Invited to speak at the UN Climate Action Summit in New York City, which took place in September 2019, Thunberg traveled across the Atlantic on a zero-emissions yacht, accompanied by her father and a supporting crew. Taking a little over two weeks, the yacht arrived in New York City on August 28th, and from there, Thunberg visited with President Barack Obama and later spoke before the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the House Select Committee in Washington D.C. on September 18th.

Known for her blunt speaking style, Thunberg barely spoke before the committees and instead pushed forward the latest UN report. "I don't want you to listen to me," she said. "I want you to listen to the scientists."

Historical Climate-Change Protest in NYC

Two days later on September 20th, Thunberg walked with millions of protesters in New York City to demand climate action at the New York City Global Climate Strike. The demonstration became the largest climate protest in history with a total of 4 million people marching all over the world. The next day, she spoke at the UN Youth Climate Summit.

United Nations Climate Action Summit, 'How Dare You' Speech

Although the world's eyes were already on the teen activist, her speech on September 21, 2019, at the United Nations Climate Action Summit brought headline news. Speaking before leaders, lawmakers and U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Thunberg lambasted them with one of her most indignant speeches.

"You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words. And yet I'm one of the lucky ones. People are suffering. People are dying. Entire ecosystems are collapsing," she said. "We are in the beginning of a mass extinction, and all you can talk about is money and fairy tales of eternal economic growth. How dare you!"

She added: "For more than 30 years, the science has been crystal clear. How dare you continue to look away and come here saying that you're doing enough, when the politics and solutions needed are still nowhere in sight... You are failing us. But the young people are starting to understand your betrayal. The eyes of all future generations are upon you. And if you choose to fail us, I say: We will never forgive you."

Days later, Thunberg joined 15 other young climate activists to file an official complaint that five countries — Argentina, France, Germany, Brazil and Turkey — have not honored their Paris Agreement pledges and have therefore violated the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child treaty.

President Trump's Response

Thunberg's "How Dare You" speech attracted so much attention that President Donald Trump , a vehement climate change denier, felt compelled to offer a mocking tweet: "She seems like a very happy young girl looking forward to a bright and wonderful future. So nice to see!" he wrote.

In response, Thunberg changed her Twitter bio temporarily, using Trump's language against him. Her profile read: “A very happy young girl looking forward to a bright and wonderful future.”

In December 2019, Thunberg was among the speakers at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP25) in Madrid, Spain. She also attended another major climate demonstration in the city, telling her fellow protesters, "The hope is not within the walls of COP25; the hope is out here with you."

Nobel Peace Prize Nomination

In March 2019, Thunberg was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for her climate activism. However, she lost the award to Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

'Time' Person of the Year

On December 11, 2019, Thunberg was named Time magazine's Person of the Year; a month shy of her 17th birthday, she became the youngest individual to earn the honor.

"Thunberg has become the biggest voice on the biggest issue facing the planet," wrote the Time editor-in-chief. "This was the year the climate crisis went from behind the curtain to center stage, from ambient political noise to squarely on the world's agenda, and no one did more to make that happen than Thunberg.

Future Plans

Taking a year off of school to campaign for climate action, Thunberg plans to travel to Mexico, Canada and South America to meet with environmental activists and see firsthand the regions most affected by climate change.

QUICK FACTS

• Birth Year: 2003
• Birth date: January 3, 2003
• Birth City: Stockholm
• Birth Country: Sweden
• Best Known For: Greta Thunberg is a Swedish climate youth activist who has received worldwide recognition for her efforts to fight climate change.
• Astrological Sign: Capricorn

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CITATION INFORMATION

• Article Title: Greta Thunberg Biography
• Author: Biography.com Editors
• Website Name: The Biography.com website
• Url: https://www.biography.com/activists/greta-thunberg
• Access Date:
• Publisher: A&E; Television Networks
• Last Updated: March 10, 2021
• Original Published Date: November 4, 2019
• You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words. And yet I'm one of the lucky ones. People are suffering. People are dying. Entire ecosystems are collapsing. We are in the beginning of a mass extinction, and all you can talk about is money and fairy tales of eternal economic growth. How dare you!
• For more than 30 years, the science has been crystal clear. How dare you continue to look away and come here saying that you're doing enough, when the politics and solutions needed are still nowhere in sight.
• We can’t just continue living as if there was no tomorrow, because there is a tomorrow.
• People are underestimating the force of angry kids. If they want us to stop being angry, then maybe they should stop making us angry.
• The planet is outside its comfort zone and we also need to be outside of our comfort zone to prevent the worst consequences from happening.
• My role is to be one of many, many activists who are pushing for climate action. I don’t see myself as a leader, or icon or the face of a movement.

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• Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/read-climate-activist-greta-thunbergs-speech-to-the-un

Read climate activist Greta Thunberg’s speech to the UN

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg chastised world leaders Monday for failing younger generations by not taking sufficient steps to stop climate change.

“You have stolen my childhood and my dreams with your empty words,” Thunberg said at the United Nations Climate Action Summit in New York.

Thunberg traveled to the U.S. by sailboat last month so she could appear at the summit. She and other youth activists led international climate strikes on Friday in an attempt to garner awareness ahead of the UN’s meeting of political and business leaders.

Read Greta Thunberg’s speech below:

This is all wrong. I shouldn’t be up here. I should be back in school on the other side of the ocean. Yet you all come to us young people for hope. How dare you?

You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words, and yet I’m one of the lucky ones. People are suffering, people are dying. Entire ecosystems are collapsing. We are in the beginning of a mass extinction and all you can talk about is money and fairytales of eternal economic growth. How dare you?

For more than 30 years, the science has been crystal clear. How dare you continue to look away and come here saying that you’re doing enough when the politics and solutions needed are still nowhere in sight? You say you hear us and that you understand the urgency, but no matter how sad and angry I am, I do not want to believe that. Because if you really understood the situation and still kept on failing to act, then you would be evil and that I refuse to believe.

The popular idea of cutting our emissions in half in ten years only gives us a 50 percent chance of staying below 1.5 degrees and the risk of setting up irreversible chain reactions beyond human control. Fifty percent may be acceptable to you, but those numbers do not include tipping points most feedback loops, additional warming hidden by toxic air pollution, or the aspects of equity and climate justice.

They also rely on my generation sucking hundreds of billions of tons of your CO2 out of the air with technologies that barely exist. So a 50 percent risk is simply not acceptable to us. We who have to live with the consequences. To have a 67 percent chance of staying below the 1.5 degree of temperature rise, the best odds given by the IPCC, the world had 420 gigatons of CO2 left to emit back on January 1, 2018.

Today that figure is already down to less than 350 gigatons. How dare you pretend that this can be solved with just business as usual and some technical solutions? With today’s emissions levels, that remaining CO2 that entire budget will be gone is less than 8 and a half years. There will not be any solutions or plans presented in line with these figures here today because these numbers are too uncomfortable and you are still not mature enough to tell it like it is.

You are failing us, but young people are starting to understand your betrayal. The eyes of all future generations are upon you. And if you choose to fail us, I say we will never forgive you. We will not let you get away with this, right here, right now, is where we draw the line. The world is waking up, and change is coming whether you like it or not.

Gretchen Frazee is a Senior Coordinating Broadcast Producer for the PBS NewsHour.

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Greta's Story: Greta Thunberg Teaching Resources

Subject: Geography

Age range: 7-11

Resource type: Unit of work

Last updated

10 October 2019

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A chapter by chapter resource pack full of activities including comprehension questions, writing activities and cross curricular opportunities based on Greta’s Story, the bestselling biography of Greta Thunberg’s life.

THE STORY OF GRETA THUNBERG THE SCHOOLGIRL WHO INSPIRED A WORLDWIDE CLIMATE CHANGE MOVEMENT.

It’s August 2018 in Stockholm and it feels incredibly hot in the city. The news reports rising temperatures, and there have been numerous fires throughout Sweden. Fifteen-year-old Greta Thunberg decides she can’t wait any longer: politicians have to do something to save the environment. Instead of returning to school, Greta goes on strike in front of Sweden’s parliament building.

Greta’s protest began the School Strike 4 Climate movement, which millions have now joined around the world. Greta has spoken at COP24, the UN summit on climate change, and has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

This is her story, but also that of many other girls and boys around the world willing to fight against the indifference of the powerful for a better future.

Greta’s Story is one of hope, courage and determination. No one is too young to make a difference.

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THE CLIMATE BOOK

by Greta Thunberg ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 14, 2023

Vital reading for anyone who cares about the planet.

The world’s most recognizable climate activist gathers crucial wisdom from prominent scientists and thinkers.

In this galvanizing follow-up to No One Is Too Small To Make a Difference , Thunberg presents an urgent collection of writing by leaders in the fields of science, engineering, history, philosophy, and activism. The brilliant and alarming narrative tells it like it is: Though politicians, fossil fuel stakeholders, and other relevant entities have known for decades that a warming climate will have devastating results for Earth, most have done little about it. “It is my genuine belief,” writes Thunberg, “that the only way we will be able to avoid the worst consequences of this emerging existential crisis is if we create a critical mass of people who demand the changes required.” Throughout the book, the contributors—among other luminaries, Elizabeth Kolbert, Michael Oppenheimer, Naomi Oreskes, Mike Berners-Lee, Robin Wall Kimmerer, and Margaret Atwood—clearly explain the tipping points that have already occurred, permanently altering the oceans, forests, fauna, and atmosphere and the fact that a concerted, global effort is required to effect positive change. The contributors also lay bare the fact that irresponsible, even pernicious, action by those who pushed for fossil fuel use but “greenwashed” information about the effects of greenhouse gas emissions has resulted in prolonged inertia, allowing the problem to get much worse. Yet most of the contributors remain optimistic that, with enough public outrage and demands for change, a solution is possible—only if we act immediately. In the last part of this book, Thunberg provides a guide to what needs to be done and how every single person on the planet can play a role. “We have the unfathomably great opportunity to be alive at the most decisive time in the history of humanity….Together, we can do the seemingly impossible. But make no mistake—no one else is going to do it for us.” The book includes numerous illustrative graphs and charts.

Pub Date: Feb. 14, 2023

ISBN: 9780593492307

Page Count: 464

Publisher: Penguin Press

Review Posted Online: Nov. 11, 2022

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2022

CURRENT EVENTS & SOCIAL ISSUES | NATURE | SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY | WORLD | PUBLIC POLICY

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by Greta Thunberg & Svante Thunberg & Malena Ernman & Beata Ernman

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PERSPECTIVES

THE BACKYARD BIRD CHRONICLES

by Amy Tan ; illustrated by Amy Tan ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 23, 2024

An ebullient nature lover’s paean to birds.

A charming bird journey with the bestselling author.

In his introduction to Tan’s “nature journal,” David Allen Sibley, the acclaimed ornithologist, nails the spirit of this book: a “collection of delightfully quirky, thoughtful, and personal observations of birds in sketches and words.” For years, Tan has looked out on her California backyard “paradise”—oaks, periwinkle vines, birch, Japanese maple, fuchsia shrubs—observing more than 60 species of birds, and she fashions her findings into delightful and approachable journal excerpts, accompanied by her gorgeous color sketches. As the entries—“a record of my life”—move along, the author becomes more adept at identifying and capturing them with words and pencils. Her first entry is September 16, 2017: Shortly after putting up hummingbird feeders, one of the tiny, delicate creatures landed on her hand and fed. “We have a relationship,” she writes. “I am in love.” By August 2018, her backyard “has become a menagerie of fledglings…all learning to fly.” Day by day, she has continued to learn more about the birds, their activities, and how she should relate to them; she also admits mistakes when they occur. In December 2018, she was excited to observe a Townsend’s Warbler—“ Omigod! It’s looking at me. Displeased expression .” Battling pesky squirrels, Tan deployed Hot Pepper Suet to keep them away, and she deterred crows by hanging a fake one upside down. The author also declared war on outdoor cats when she learned they kill more than 1 billion birds per year. In May 2019, she notes that she spends $250 per month on beetle larvae. In June 2019, she confesses “spending more hours a day staring at birds than writing. How can I not?” Her last entry, on December 15, 2022, celebrates when an eating bird pauses, “looks and acknowledges I am there.”

Pub Date: April 23, 2024

ISBN: 9780593536131

Page Count: 320

Publisher: Knopf

Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2024

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2024

GENERAL BIOGRAPHY & MEMOIR | BIOGRAPHY & MEMOIR | NATURE | GENERAL NONFICTION

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Our Verdict

Kirkus Reviews' Best Books Of 2023

New York Times Bestseller

by Walter Isaacson ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 12, 2023

Alternately admiring and critical, unvarnished, and a closely detailed account of a troubled innovator.

A warts-and-all portrait of the famed techno-entrepreneur—and the warts are nearly beyond counting.

To call Elon Musk (b. 1971) “mercurial” is to undervalue the term; to call him a genius is incorrect. Instead, Musk has a gift for leveraging the genius of others in order to make things work. When they don’t, writes eminent biographer Isaacson, it’s because the notoriously headstrong Musk is so sure of himself that he charges ahead against the advice of others: “He does not like to share power.” In this sharp-edged biography, the author likens Musk to an earlier biographical subject, Steve Jobs. Given Musk’s recent political turn, born of the me-first libertarianism of the very rich, however, Henry Ford also comes to mind. What emerges clearly is that Musk, who may or may not have Asperger’s syndrome (“Empathy did not come naturally”), has nurtured several obsessions for years, apart from a passion for the letter X as both a brand and personal name. He firmly believes that “all requirements should be treated as recommendations”; that it is his destiny to make humankind a multi-planetary civilization through innovations in space travel; that government is generally an impediment and that “the thought police are gaining power”; and that “a maniacal sense of urgency” should guide his businesses. That need for speed has led to undeniable successes in beating schedules and competitors, but it has also wrought disaster: One of the most telling anecdotes in the book concerns Musk’s “demon mode” order to relocate thousands of Twitter servers from Sacramento to Portland at breakneck speed, which trashed big parts of the system for months. To judge by Isaacson’s account, that may have been by design, for Musk’s idea of creative destruction seems to mean mostly chaos.

Pub Date: Sept. 12, 2023

ISBN: 9781982181284

Page Count: 688

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: Sept. 12, 2023

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2023

BIOGRAPHY & MEMOIR | GENERAL BIOGRAPHY & MEMOIR | BUSINESS | SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY | ISSUES & CONTROVERSIES | POLITICS

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Greta Thunberg

Greta Thunberg is a Swedish environmental activist.

Thunberg was born on January 3, 2003, in Stockholm, Sweden. She states that she became aware of the issue of climate change in 2011. In 2014, she was diagnosed with several conditions, including Asperger syndrome. Thunberg successfully urged her parents to change their lifestyle to lower the family's carbon footprint, such as adopting veganism and ending plane travel.

In late 2018, Thunberg demonstrated outside the Swedish parliament and began giving speeches to protest inaction against climate change. After other students began protests in other communities, Thunberg and the students started a school climate strike movement called Fridays for Future, and in 2019, at least two multi-city protests of over one million students each were held.

In August 2019, Thunberg sailed from Plymouth, UK, to New York City to attend the United Nations Climate Action Summit on September 23, where she gave a powerful speech condemning inaction on climate change. On September 18, she also appeared before a congressional hearing on climate change. Rather than giving a prepared address, Thunberg gave congressmembers a copy of the 2018 global warming report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Thunberg published a collection of her climate action speeches, "No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference," in May 2019.

• Address at the United Nations Climate Action Summit - Sept. 23, 2019
• Speech at the National Assembly in Paris – July 23, 2019
• Speech to the British Parliament - April 23, 2019
• Speech at the European Parliament - April 16, 2019
• Acceptance Speech at the 2019 Goldene Kamera Awards - March 30, 2019
• Address at World Economic Forum: Our House Is On Fire - Jan 25, 2019
• Speech at COP24 - Dec. 12, 2018

Neither the Catt Center nor Iowa State University is affiliated with any individual in the Archives or any political party. Inclusion in the Archives is not an endorsement by the center or the university.

Experts rubbish claim Greta Thunberg related to non-existent Rothschild

There is no evidence that greta thunberg is related to the rothschild banking dynasty, contrary to social media posts targeting the climate activist with the baseless claim. the posts said thunberg's great-grandfather was "joachim rothschild-thunberg" but researchers said there was no evidence he existed..

The claim was shared in a lengthy Facebook post published on April 1, 2024.

The post said Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg is the great-granddaughter of a "Joachim Rothschild-Thunberg", who it claimed was the illegitimate son of Lionel Walter Rothschild. It added that Lionel Walter acknowledged Joachim in 1928 and adopted him.

"At the age of 26, Joachim Rothschild-Thunberg became one of the most successful bankers in Sweden," the post said.

The Rothschilds are a famous European banking dynasty often subjected to conspiracy theories , and AFP has previously fact-checked misinformation about the family.

AFP has also debunked falsehoods about Thunberg -- herself a frequent target of misinformation.

Nonetheless, the claim was shared elsewhere by Australia-based users on  Facebook and social media platform X .

But there is no evidence to support the claim Thunberg is related to the Rothschilds.

Experts told AFP there is also no evidence of Lionel Walter Rothschild having had a son named Joachim, nor evidence of a banker named "Joachim Rothschild-Thunberg" who lived in Sweden.

Thunberg family tree

Åsa Karlsson, editor-in-chief of the Dictionary of Swedish National Biography , told AFP that Thunberg's grandfather was the well-known actor Olof, or Fritz-Olof Thunberg  ( archived link ).

His death in 2020 was widely reported in Swedish media ( archived link ).

 Greta also posted about her grandfather's death on her X account ( archived link ).

Olof Thunberg's father -- Greta's great-grandfather -- was Fritz Thunberg, as stated in Sweden's 1930 census ( archived link ).

Fritz Thunberg was born in 1889 in Gotland County, Karlsson said in an April 16 email, pointing to his entry in the Lärbro parish register ( archived link ).

The record shows Greta's great-great-grandfather was Carl Gustaf Eriksson -- not Lionel Walter Rothschild.

Non-existent 'great-grandfather'

There is no mention of a "Joachim Rothschild-Thunberg" in Lionel Walter Rothschild's profiles in  Encyclopaedia Britannica , the  Rothschild Archive or by the Natural History Museum (archived links  here , here and  here ).

While the Rothschild Archive's  family tree  has no record of children by Lionel Walter, online nobility tracker  The Peerage states he had one child out of wedlock -- Olga Alice Muriel (archived links  here and  here ).

"There is no doubt that Walter Rothschild put himself about a bit," Tim Amsden, author of The Rothschilds And Tring , told AFP in an April 10 email ( archived link ).

Amsden was the  chairman of a local museum in Tring, where Lionel Walter's branch of the Rothschild family moved from London ( archived link ).

There, Rothschild developed an interest in natural science and set up a museum that later became the Museum of Natural History at Tring.

At one point, Rothschild had two mistresses at the same time, Amsden said, citing a  biography by the naturalist's niece, Miriam ( archived link ).

According to the biography, it was with one of these mistresses, Marie Fredensen, that he had Olga.

"The book does not mention a Joachim, or any Swedish dealings," Amsden said.

There is also no trace of a "Joachim Rothschild-Thunberg" in Swedish sources.

"The name Rothschild is extremely rare in Sweden," Karlsson said.

She searched a registry covering all inhabitants in Sweden between 1800 and 1947, but found that "there were only 7 people with the name Rothschild registered."

"They were all born abroad and came to Sweden during the 20th century. None of them was called Joachim."