This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Cal Poly chapter.
Greta Thunberg is only 17 years old, but she staged the first climate school strike in August 2018. She was inspired by school strike in Florida in protest of gun laws in the United States, and her actions since has gained global attention. Here are 10 facts to know about her.
- While she has brought her ideas to multiple countries, Greta does not travel by plane. It took her 32 hours to reach the World Economic Forum in Switzerland, and she sailed for two weeks in a zero-emission ship.
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- Greta has Asperger’s syndrome and says it makes her different, calling it her “superpower.”
- Greta is vegan and says that the fishing, meat, dairy and egg industries are hurting the environment.
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- All of her speeches are fact checked by scientists.
- Her parents are also successful. Her mother is a famous opera singer and her father is an author and an actor.
- Greta has met world leaders including German chancellor Angela Merkel, French president Emmanuel Macron and the European commission president Jean-Claude Juncker.
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- Greta has over 9.5 million followers on Instagram where she documents her campaigns.
- TIME Magazine named Greta as one of the most influential teens in 2018, and its person of the year in 2019. She is the youngest person to ever earn this title.
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- A collection of Greta’s speeches were published in May 2019, titled “No One Is Too Small To Make A Difference.”
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- A documentary on Greta and her activism will be released on Hulu this summer.
What do you love about Greta Thunberg? Let us know in the comments!