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The fate of the world is in their hands.

The youngest generations may feel that they have the smallest ability to impact the devastating effects of climate change at the moment but also shoulder the burden of its future effects.

This responsibility -- along with the prospect of living under a looming humanitarian crisis -- sparked by rising sea levels and extreme weather events exacerbated by climate change -- has caused widespread psychological distress among young people.

Many say they don't trust their leaders to make the right decisions for them and the planet. They are frustrated with older generations for putting them in this position and they are scared about the future of the planet -- about what living conditions will look like decades from now.

But it has also sparked a camaraderie among young people, who are using their collective voices and actions to become the most vocal generation to fight for the planet in recorded history.

"The climate emergency is already here," 19-year-old Jeeva Senthilnathan, an engineering student at the Colorado School of Mines, told ABC News. "We're seeing the entire climate emergency in front of our eyes."

Older generations have a responsibility to foster and encourage young people's goals to conserve the planet as well, Lise Van Susteren, a general and forensic psychiatrist who has researched how climate change has affected the psychological health of young people, told ABC News.

"We have to listen," Van Susteren said. "They recognize that the cumulative toll of climate change is on their shoulders."

Young people attend 'Die-In' protest during Global Climate Strike to demand action be taken on climate change in Krakow, Poland, Oct. 14, 2019.

NurPhoto via Getty Images

These are the things young people can do to get ahead of climate change:

Make your voice heard

One of the biggest assets young people have in the climate fight is the ability to make themselves be heard on a global scale.

Ever since Swedish teen Greta Thunberg inspired millions of teens to skip school to demonstrate for climate change in 2018, the world's media has been paying attention to youth climate strikes.

The protests, filled with passionate young people, and often led by Thunberg, now 19. They have captured the attention of the world's media, reverberating with the anger and angst the young attendees feel about the future.

Young people, especially teens, are experts at arguing with their parents, Van Susteren said, adding that, when it comes to the climate crisis, that catharsis is "absolutely critical."

"Don't hold it in," she said. "If it's churning inside you, let it out. Talk about it. Don't stop talking about it."

Students, who are dealing with other overlapping crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic and racial injustice, are pushing to bring those topics into the classroom.

Senthilnathan, who has not only led climate strikes but has also met with local legislators to discuss policy, said more of those type of interactions will move the needle on awareness.

"When they work together and put their voices together, it has much more impact," Van Susteren said. "Make as much noise as you can."

But beware of the "false dichotomy" between collective action and individual action, Morgan Edwards, an assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a leader of the university's Climate Action Lab told ABC News, adding that reducing personal emissions or shaming others' lifestyles is not fulfilling or effective.

"There's no price of admission to the climate movement," she said. "Trying to think just about how you can reduce your personal emissions can feel really lonely, whereas, being part of something bigger, finding a community to take action together with -- I think that's a much more empowering way to think about climate change centers the conversation around those who are responsible for the crisis, which isn't you as an individual."

Teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg joins a Fridays for Future climate protest, Feb. 21, 2020, in Hamburg, Germany.

Participate in local politics

As young people grow to voting age, it will be important for them to use that power to spark change.

And if they believe that none of the candidates are up to the task, young people can run for office themselves.

Senthilnathan has already run for city council in her town in Parker, Colorado. Although she was not elected she encourages her peers to continue to fight for those positions of power.

"Election after election after election, we're still seeing the fact that the climate emergency isn't really being addressed," she said. "Running for like a city council position is a great place where they can like input those policies."

One of Senthilnathan's goals is to become an adviser to the White House on science and technology committee, she said, adding that it will be important for people her age to not let older generations tell them they are too young to lead.

"As youth, we barely have any resources to run for office," she said. "I hope people are paying attention to the youth who are trying to make a change."

Apply your interests to the climate fight

Young people do not need to dedicate their entire lives to climate activism to make a big difference in protecting the environment, the experts said.

"The best way to take climate action is to think about the thing that you already love to do," Edwards said. "So if you're, if you're an artist, you can make art about the climate crisis. If you're a writer, you can tell stories."

While studying for her engineering degree, Senthilnathan learned that about 40% to 50% of pollution comes from construction engineering. This is something she hopes to address in future policy, she said.

"I think, whatever you're interested in, climate intersects with that," Edwards said. "Bringing conversation into the things that you already love, I think, is the most one of the most sustainable ways to take action."

For college students who feel like they can't get involved in the climate crisis because their major has nothing to do with the environment, Senthilnathan said there are ways to apply every course of study to the climate fight. For instance, people with a focus on business administration or property management can apply their studies to finding ways to construct and maintain buildings with more sustainable materials and less toxic waste, she said.

"I think we need so many more perspectives coming into the climate crisis, and to really be thinking about how it interacts with all of these different fields," Edwards said. "So it's not just a science or policy or an engineering problems."

Young people attend 'Die-In' protest during Global Climate Strike to demand action be taken on climate change in Krakow, Poland, Oct. 14, 2019.

NurPhoto via Getty Images

Living with fear of the future

Senthilnathan got a front row seat to the climate emergency after multiple wildfires destroyed hundreds of homes near Boulder, Colorado, just weeks ago.

Winds that help spread the fires rapidly were so high that they broke her window, Senthilnathan said, describing that week as "terrifying" and "emotional." There was dust and debris all over Jefferson County, where Senthilnathan lives, and because her father had contracted COVID-19, she had no where to escape to.

Activism is the only way she knows how to take control of her destiny, rather than live in fear, she said.

It will also important for young people to find like-minded peers to discuss ideas over, Van Susteren said. It's easy to feel like an outcast or "the weird one" when you're young, especially when older people keep telling you you're too young to know anything.

In the past, kids who found that their concerns about the climate were not taken seriously felt like outsiders, Van Susteren said.

"Kids find that when they talk to each other, they feel a sense of camaraderie," she said. " This is critical, because it makes them feel like they're not weird," Van Susteren said.

Van Susteren also advised young people to find a mentor who does not write off their concerns.

"They want their teachers and administrators to provide the space and the time for them to talk about their fear, and they want their school districts to create the curricula that enable them to speak intelligently about climate," Van Susteren said. "And also to show that the adults who are involved in education, understand what it is that they are going to need to know."

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How young people can make effective change in the climate crisis, according to experts

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The fate of the world is in their hands. The youngest generations may feel that they have the smallest ability to impact the devastating effects of climate change at the moment but also shoulder the burden of its future effects.

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17-year-old Ayakha Melithafa from Eerste River in Cape Town joined Greta Thunberg and 14 other climate activists from around the world in signing a legal complaint with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child on 23 September. Daily Maverick interviewed the young climate activist representing South Africa on an international stage.

"We do need more people of colour in the fight against climate change," Melithafa told Daily Maverick two days after her story was included in a 100-page legal document holding high-carbon economies accountable for abusing the rights of children.

Speaking candidly with Daily Maverick, the 17-year-old said she did not want climate activism to be associated with people who could afford to live more environmentally-friendly lifestyles.

"Before, we knew what the weather was doing, but now we don't know when the rain will come, so she is just looking after the farm animals. But with the drought some animals died, and it's R16,000 for one cow so when they die we feel it," Melithafa told Daily Maverick.

The young climate activist had organised for a Khayelitsha community clean-up to take place after meeting Daily Maverick on 25 September, but was forced to cancel when only three people arrived.

"I was bummed that I didn't get to go to New York, but going to New York is not really the point - the point is that South Africa was part of it and we were represented. Now our government also needs to do something, because we're holding others accountable." DM

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OUR BURNING PLANET: Cape Town teen climate activist Ayakha Melithafa takes drought to the UN

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17-year-old Ayakha Melithafa from Eerste River in Cape Town joined Greta Thunberg and 14 other climate activists from around the world in signing a legal complaint with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child on 23 September. Daily Maverick interviewed the young climate activist representing South Africa on an international stage.

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A teenage girl, Greta Thunberg, has become the world-famous face of the climate strike movement. But she's far from alone: Thunberg has helped rally and inspire others — especially girls.

NPR talked to four teenage climate activists, all girls, from the U.S. and Australia, alongside their mothers. These teenagers are juggling activism with schoolwork and personal time. And their families are working hard to support them as they grapple with the heavy emotions that come with fighting for the future.

In Castlemaine, Australia, Milou Albrecht, 15, co-founded School Strike for Climate Australia, which organizes student walkouts. As massive bush fires engulf parts of her home country, Albrecht's group has been pressuring the German corporation Siemens to withdraw from an Australian coal mining project.

In New York City, Xiye Bastida, 17, led her school in the city's first big student climate strike last March, and along with traveling and public speaking, she and some of her classmates have continued to strike on Fridays ever since. ("Gym is on Fridays, so I have a very low grade in gym," she notes.)

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In Louisiana, 16-year-old Jayden Foytlin was one of 21 young people who sued the federal government for violating their rights to a livable planet. The young plaintiffs hailed from communities around the country that have been directly affected by global warming — Foytlin, for example, is from south Louisiana, where her home has been flooded in storms.

The lawsuit, Juliana v. United States, was recently thrown out by a federal appeals court. But Foytlin says she's formed lasting friendships with the other plaintiffs. "We all share one thing in common — we really care about where we're from, and how we are going to continue to live [here]."

In upstate New York, Scout Pronto Breslin, 16, is focused on wildlife. She lives in Rhinebeck, and is the founder of a group called Hudson Valley Wild. "I volunteer at a wildlife rehab clinic," she says, explaining what motivated her activism."The birds there often come in with blood poisoning because of illegal toxins from chemical runoff and fertilizer."

Pronto Breslin advises other teens to find what really interests them about the climate movement. She says it could be composting in their schools, gardening, nature: "Once you find something that you really love, then that will just give you motivation to keep going with it."

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17-year-old Ayakha Melithafa from Eerste River in Cape Town joined Greta Thunberg and 14 other climate activists from around the world in signing a legal complaint with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child on 23 September. Daily Maverick interviewed the young climate activist representing South Africa on an international stage.

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Teens care about more than just dating, going out on a Friday night and getting their driver's licenses. Some teens are taking action on big initiatives, like putting an end to global warming. Learn how Alec Loorz from the iMatter movement is working to help save the earth.

Alec Loorz makes your average 40-year-old, stay-at-home mom really re-think her bucket list.

By age 18, he had sued the U.S. government, trained with Al Gore, shared philosophies with the daughter of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and inspired tens of thousands of youth from 45 countries and more than 200 cities to march in their streets with a unified message - "Our future matters!"

Alec and his mother, Victoria, launched Kids vs Global Warming when Alec was only 13 years old. The iMatter Campaign, an initiative of Kids vs Global Warming, began in 2009. Its mission is to "empower youth to become the voice of the climate crisis so that our society wakes up and actually begins to live as if our future matters."

Alec says he didn't set out to spark a movement. "I just did what I felt I needed to do to raise awareness that my generation's future was at stake, and we all need to be involved in bringing about a new way of living if we are going to survive," he explains. "I guess that really resonated with people."

Youth passion needs matching funds

The iMatter Youth Council (iMYC) is an international team of young leaders who act as spokespeople for their generation through school presentations, speeches, videos, blogs and articles. But iMYC isn't just talk.

Members also organize marches and meet with government officials. The goal is to change the way people think, live and act.

But big goals often need big budgets - and that's where iMatter struggles.

"We need to build infrastructure and raise funds to keep up with the momentum," says Victoria Loorz, Alec's mother and the executive director of iMatter. "It's a huge challenge. I know there are many people out there who would want to join us in our work, but it's a skill we're still learning."

Climate crisis is "moral issue"

While Al Gore inspired much of Alec's philosophy on climate change, iMatter hopes to differentiate itself from the liberal pigeonhole into which many environmental organizations find themselves plunged.

"The climate crisis is not a political issue," Victoria says. "In fact, it's not even an environmental issue. It's a moral issue. But corporate money from oil interests have made it into a political one."

Akilah Sanders-Reed, 18, is an iMatter youth council member and student at Macalester College. She has been a climate activist since she was about 14 years old.

"Climate action isn't some strange litmus test for how liberal or conservative a person is," Akilah says. "It's a test of a person's commitment to every young and future American, and every citizen of the planet."

Adult support, partnership is key

In addition to recruiting Republicans, iMatter hopes to attract individuals with large fan bases to help organically expand iMatter's reach. While growing funding and reach are paramount, iMatter's long-term goal is "to see some actual change in our political system to reduce carbon emissions as prescribed by scientists to bring down carbon levels to 350 ppm," explains Valerie Serrels, mother to three teens who have worked with iMatter. Valerie is also coordinator of the iMatter youth council for Kids vs Global Warming.

While Kids vs Global Warming is primarily driven by youth, the organization says it strives to involve parents and plans to launch a mentor program this year. "Elders are needed as much as youth are," says Victoria, Alec's mother. "Both need to be honored, supported and mobilized together."

Grant Serrels, 17, is an iMatter youth council member and Valerie's son. He describes why he believes this youth movement is poised to succeed.

"The unique thing about youth leadership as part of the climate movement is that our voices represent future generations and put focus on the need to change the way we live, act, use, abuse and profit from our environment," he says. "History has shown us that a movement of young people can bring change."

In 50 years, Larry King will be dead, "but I won't be"

Alec says his passion is especially fueled by people who tell him something cannot be done.

"I love it when people tell me that!" he says. "It makes me mad and I have to prove them wrong. Larry King stated the problem plainly... a few years ago [when he said], 'Nobody cares about what's going to happen in 50 years.'"

"Well that's easy for him to say, he'll be dead," Alec points out. "But I won't be. Our children won't be. This planet won't be. So I believe that it is up to us - the youngest generation - to stand up and ignite a movement that will change the mindset of every person on this planet.

"In fact, I believe it's what we were born to do."

More about kids making a difference
8 Earth Day traditions kids will love
What your kids should know about global warming
Volunteering opportunities for teens

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Teens vs Global Warming's iMatter movement rallies youth worldwide to change the way people think, live and act.

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Though the Girl Scouts of the USA initially declared itself a space for all girls, the reality was different for girls of color

Erin Blakemore

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She was declared Time magazine's person of the year in the same month that Donald Trump told her to " work on her anger management issues". Greta Thunberg has attracted international attention since her lone demonstration outside the Swedish Parliament in August 2018. Her " school strike for the climate" has now grown into a global movement that has brought more than 10 million people onto streets worldwide to demand action on climate change.

In the same time that Greta Thunberg has become a household name, public concern about climate change has reached record highs in the United States. But what role has Thunberg's personal influence played in this? Do her speeches appeal to diverse audiences or is she simply preaching to the choir?

Based on a nationally representative survey of over 1,300 US adults, our study found that Americans who report being more familiar with Greta Thunberg also feel more confident that they can help mitigate climate change as part of a collective effort. They are also more willing to take action themselves, by contacting elected officials or giving time and money to campaigns. We call this the Greta Thunberg effect.

Familiarity breeds empowerment

Seeing or hearing Greta Thunberg once does not instantly turn someone into a climate activist. Nonetheless, we discovered a potentially important pattern of associations. Those more familiar with Thunberg were more likely to think their actions were effective and meaningful and were more intent on doing something about climate change.

Our model seemed to show this might be the case because people who knew Thunberg's story - how her lonely stand inspired millions around the world to join her - were more likely to recognise the potential for ordinary people to make a difference.

We wanted to know how widespread this effect might be, so we tried to find out which audiences Thunberg most appealed to. In her public appearances, she is often surrounded by young people and her demands for climate action align most strongly with liberal policy preferences. Since people tend to listen more to those they identify with, we thought that young and left-leaning people would be more strongly influenced by her.

Young people are likely to be most receptive, but Thunberg's influence defies generational and political divides. Photo credit: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters

Surprisingly, the Greta Thunberg effect seems to be similar across age groups and the political spectrum for US adults, though it was stronger among liberals than conservatives. We did not survey children and teenagers, but we expect them to be most strongly influenced by Thunberg's school strikes.

'No one is too small to make a difference'

Pope Francis, James Hansen and Jeff Bezos have all tried to spur momentum on climate action using their religious, academic and financial authority. Greta Thunberg lacks any such elite status, so how has she been able to succeed?

Given the prevailing sense of doom about climate change, empowering people to take action requires an ability to convey that change is possible. In her speeches, Thunberg proclaims that "there is still time to change everything around". Her Fridays for Future campaign is also founded on the empowering message that anyone - even school students - can make a difference.

Greta Thunberg's example to others is that an ordinary person can inspire extraordinary change. Photo credit: Carlo Allegri/Reuters

Most importantly, Thunberg's actions are consistent with her words. Her fiery demands to world leaders, whether at the United Nations or the US Congress, demonstrate that anyone can - and should - challenge powerful institutions and people.

What does this mean for climate action?

How can we be sure that our findings reflect Greta Thunberg's own effect and not the influence of climate activism more generally? The short answer is that we cannot. But to help isolate Thunberg's influence, we asked our study participants to rate their support for climate activism and found that familiarity with Thunberg remained relevant even when controlling for this.

Of course, there are other things that could explain why people may want to take action on climate change, such as their prior support for environmental reform or them having heard about climate change in the news. But much of this is already captured indirectly by political ideology in our model, which is one of the most important predictors of what a person reads and how much they support climate action.

So, while there are many reasons people might want to tackle climate change, being familiar with Greta Thunberg appears to have a unique influence on the extent to which they feel empowered to make a difference.

But what if the Greta Thunberg effect is actually operating the other way? Did we instead find that people who are already more likely to act on climate change are just more familiar with Greta Thunberg?

We cannot be certain because this type of study cannot prove cause and effect, it can only show associations. But statistical tests showed that this reverse explanation did not explain the data as well as our original one. Of course, reality may be more complex than what our models can capture. A positive feedback loop - where both explanations operate in tandem to inspire climate action - is also possible.

Future research can build on our findings using controlled experiments, but the patterns in our data at least suggest that Greta Thunberg is a particularly inspirational leader in part because she's a convincing example that sudden, big change is possible.

Now, how can activists amplify their own impact? Considering how politicised climate change is, one answer might be appealing to people across the political spectrum by highlighting aspects of their identity that they tend to share with the wider public. The Greta Thunberg effect suggests that calls to action may be able to mobilise broad segments of society, regardless of age or politics.
Anandita Sabherwal is a PhD Student in Psychological and Behavioural Science, London School of Economics and Political Science. Sander van der Linden is a Professor of Social Psychology in Society and Director, Cambridge Social Decision-Making Lab at the University of Cambridge. This article first appeared on The Conversation.

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Greta Thunberg effect: How a teenager inspired millions into climate action when others had failed

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She was declared Time magazine's person of the year in the same month that Donald Trump told her to " work on her anger management issues". Greta Thunberg has attracted international attention since her lone demonstration outside the Swedish Parliament in August 2018.

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reta Thunberg cut a frail and lonely figure when she started a school strike for the climate outside the Swedish parliament building last August. Her parents tried to dissuade her. Classmates declined to join. Passersby expressed pity and bemusement at the sight of the then unknown 15-year-old sitting on the cobblestones with a hand-painted banner.

Eight months on, the picture could not be more different. The pigtailed teenager is feted across the world as a model of determination, inspiration and positive action. National presidents and corporate executives line up to be criticised by her, face to face. Her skolstrejk för klimatet (school strike for climate) banner has been translated into dozens of languages. And, most striking of all, the loner is now anything but alone.

On 15 March, when she returns to the cobblestones (as she has done almost every Friday in rain, sun, ice and snow), it will be as a figurehead for a vast and growing movement. The global climate strike this Friday is gearing up to be one of the biggest environmental protests the world has ever seen. As it approaches, Thunberg is clearly excited.

"It's amazing," she says. "It's more than 71 countries and more than 700 places, and counting. It's increasing very much now, and that's very, very fun."

A year ago, this was unimaginable. Back then, Thunberg was a painfully introverted, slightly built nobody, waking at 6am to prepare for school and heading back home at 3pm. "Nothing really was happening in my life," she recalls. "I have always been that girl in the back who doesn't say anything. I thought I couldn't make a difference because I was too small."

She was never quite like the other kids. Her mother, Malena Ernman, is one of Sweden's most celebrated opera singers. Her father, Svante Thunberg, is an actor and author (named after Svante Arrhenius, the Nobel prize-winning scientist who in 1896 first calculated how carbon dioxide emissions could lead to the greenhouse effect). Greta was exceptionally bright. Four years ago, she was diagnosed with Asperger's.

"I overthink. Some people can just let things go, but I can't, especially if there's something that worries me or makes me sad. I remember when I was younger, and in school, our teachers showed us films of plastic in the ocean, starving polar bears and so on. I cried through all the movies. My classmates were concerned when they watched the film, but when it stopped, they started thinking about other things. I couldn't do that. Those pictures were stuck in my head."

She has come to accept this as part of who she is - and made it a motivating force instead of a source of paralysing depression, which it once was.

At about the age of eight, when she first learned about climate change, she was shocked that adults did not appear to be taking the issue seriously. It was not the only reason she became depressed a few years later, but it was a significant factor.

Thunberg on strike last August. Photograph: Michael Campanella/The Guardian

"I kept thinking about it and I just wondered if I am going to have a future. And I kept that to myself because I'm not very much of a talker, and that wasn't healthy. I became very depressed and stopped going to school. When I was home, my parents took care of me, and we started talking because we had nothing else to do. And then I told them about my worries and concerns about the climate crisis and the environment. And it felt good to just get that off my chest.

"They just told me everything will be all right. That didn't help, of course, but it was good to talk. And then I kept on going, talking about this all the time and showing my parents pictures, graphs and films, articles and reports. And, after a while, they started listening to what I actually said. That's when I kind of realised I could make a difference. And how I got out of that depression was that I thought: it is just a waste of time feeling this way because I can do so much good with my life. I am trying to do that still now."

Her parents were the guinea pigs. She discovered she had remarkable powers of persuasion, and her mother gave up flying, which had a severe impact on her career. Her father became a vegetarian. As well as feeling relieved by the transformation of their formerly quiet and morose daughter, they say they were persuaded by her reasoning. "Over the years, I ran out of arguments," says her father. "She kept showing us documentaries, and we read books together. Before that, I really didn't have a clue. I thought we had the climate issue sorted," he says. "She changed us and now she is changing a great many other people. There was no hint of this in her childhood. It's unbelievable. If this can happen, anything can happen."

The climate strike was inspired by students from the Parkland school in Florida, who walked out of classes in protest against the US gun laws that enabled the massacre on their campus. Greta was part of a group that wanted to do something similar to raise awareness about climate change, but they couldn't agree what. Last summer, after a record heatwave in northern Europe and forest fires that ravaged swathes of Swedish land up to the Arctic, Thunberg decided to go it alone. Day one was 20 August 2018.

"I painted the sign on a piece of wood and, for the flyers, wrote down some facts I thought everyone should know. And then I took my bike to the parliament and just sat there," she recalls. "The first day, I sat alone from about 8.30am to 3pm - the regular schoolday. And then on the second day, people started joining me. After that, there were people there all the time."

She kept her promise to strike every day until the Swedish national elections. Afterwards, she agreed to make a speech in front of thousands of people at a People's Climate March rally. Her parents were reluctant. Knowing Thunberg had been so reticent that she had previously been diagnosed with selective mutism, they tried to talk her out of it. But the teenager was determined. "In some cases where I am really passionate, I will not change my mind," she says. Despite her family's concerns, she delivered the address in nearly flawless English, and invited the crowd to film her on their mobile phones and spread the message through social media. "I cried," says her proud dad.

Thunberg ... 'They are still not doing anything.' Photograph: Michael Campanella/The Guardian

People with selective mutism have a tendency to worry more than others. Thunberg has since weaponised this in meetings with political leaders, and with billionaire entrepreneurs in Davos. "I don't want you to be hopeful. I want you to panic. I want you to feel the fear I feel every day. And then I want you to act," she told them.

Such tongue-lashings have gone down well. Many politicians laud her candidness. In return, she listens to their claims that stronger climate policies are unrealistic unless the public make the issue more of a priority. She is unconvinced. "They are still not doing anything. So I don't know really why they are supporting us because we are criticising them. It's kind of weird." She has also been withering about leaders in the US, UK and Australia who either ignore the strikers or admonish them for skipping classes. "They are desperately trying to change the subject whenever the school strikes come up. They know they can't win this fight because they haven't done anything."

Such blunt talk has found a broad audience among people jaded by empty promises and eager to find a climate leader willing to ramp up ambition. Thunberg's rise coincides with growing scientific concern. A slew of recent reports has warned oceans are heating and the poles melting faster than expected. Last year's UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change spelled out the dangers of surpassing 1.5C of global warming. To have any chance of avoiding that outcome, it said, emissions must fall rapidly by 2030. That will require far more pressure on politicians - and nobody has proved more effective at that over the past eight months than Thunberg.

The girl who once slipped into despair is now a beacon of hope. One after another, veteran campaigners and grizzled scientists have described her as the best news for the climate movement in decades. She has been lauded at the UN, met the French president, Emmanuel Macron, shared a podium with the European commission president Jean-Claude Juncker and has been endorsed by the German chancellor, Angela Merkel.

No, I am not more hopeful than when I started. The emissions are increasing

You may think this would put the weight of the world on the 16-year-old's shoulders, but she claims to feel no pressure. If "people are so desperate for hope", she says, that is not her or the other strikers' responsibility.

"I don't care if what I'm doing - what we're doing - is hopeful. We need to do it anyway. Even if there's no hope left and everything is hopeless, we must do what we can."

In this regard, her family see her Asperger's as a blessing. She is someone who strips away social distractions and focuses with black-and-white clarity on the issues. "It's nothing that I want to change about me," she says. "It's just who I am. If I had been just like everyone else and been social, then I would have just tried to start an organisation. But I couldn't do that. I'm not very good with people, so I did something myself instead."

While she has little time for chit-chat, she gets satisfaction from speaking to a big audience about climate change. Regardless of the size of the crowd, she says she does not feel the least bit nervous.

She seems incapable of the cognitive dissonance that allows other people to lament what is happening to the climate one minute, then tuck into a steak, buy a car or fly off for a weekend break the next. Although Thunberg believes political action far outweighs individual changes to consumer habits, she lives her values. She is a vegan, and only travels abroad by train.

At its best, this sharpness can slice through the Gordian knot of the climate debate. It can also sting. There are no comfortable reassurances in her speech, just a steady frankness. Asked whether she has become more optimistic because the climate issue has risen up the political agenda and politicians in the US and Europe are considering green New Deals that would ramp up the transition to renewable energy, her reply is brutally honest. "No, I am not more hopeful than when I started. The emissions are increasing and that is the only thing that matters. I think that needs to be our focus. We cannot talk about anything else."

Some people consider this a threat. A handful of fossil fuel lobbyists, politicians and journalists have argued Thunberg is not what she seems; that she was propelled into prominence by environmental groups and sustainable business interests. They say the entrepreneur who first tweeted about the climate strike, Ingmar Rentzhog, used Thunberg's name to raise investment for his company, but her father says the connection was overblown. Greta, he says, initiated the strike before anyone in the family had heard of Rentzhog. As soon as she found he had used her name without her permission, she cut all links with the company, and has since vowed never to be associated with commercial interests. Her family says she has never been paid for her activities. In a recent interview, Rentzhog defended his actions, denied exploiting Greta and said that climate change, not profit, was his motive.

On social media, there have been other crude attacks on Thunberg's reputation and appearance. Already familiar with bullying from school, she appears unfazed. "I expected when I started that if this is going to become big, then there will be a lot of hate," she says. "It's a positive sign. I think that must be because they see us as a threat. That means that something has changed in the debate, and we are making a difference."

She intends to strike outside parliament every Friday until the Swedish government's policies are in line with the Paris climate agreement. This has led to what she calls "strange contrasts": balancing her maths homework with her fight to save the planet; listening attentively to teachers and decrying the immaturity of world leaders; weighing up the existential threat of climate change alongside the agonising choice of what subjects to study in high school.

It can be gruelling. She still gets up at 6am to get ready for school. Interviews and writing speeches can leave her working 12- to 15-hour days. "Of course, it takes a lot of energy. I don't have much spare time. But I just keep reminding myself why I am doing this, and then I just try to do as much as I can." So far, this does not appear to have affected her academic performance. She keeps up with homework and is in the top five in her class, according to her father.

And now that she is active on climate, she is no longer lonely, no longer silent, no longer so depressed. She is too busy trying to make a difference. And enjoying herself.

This Friday, when she takes her usual spot outside the Swedish parliament, she will be joined by classmates and students from other schools. "It's going to be very, very big internationally, with hundreds of thousands of children going to strike from school to say that we aren't going to accept this any more," she says. "I think we are only seeing the beginning. I think that change is on the horizon and the people will stand up for their future."

And then the activist slips back into being a teenager. "I'm looking forward to it and to see all the pictures the day afterwards. It's going to be fun."

This article was amended on 11 March 2019 to revise an explanation of mutism. An earlier version of the piece said: "People with selective mutism typically do not suffer from an inability to talk; rather, they choose not to engage in conversations they do not consider worthwhile." This is not the accepted definition. The National Health Service, for example, notes: "Selective mutism is a severe anxiety disorder where a person is unable to speak in certain social situations , such as with classmates at school or to relatives they don't see very often ... A child or adult with selective mutism doesn't refuse or choose not to speak, they're literally unable to speak."

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Greta Thunberg, schoolgirl climate change warrior: 'Some people can let things go. I can't'

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One day last summer, aged 15, she skipped school, sat down outside the Swedish parliament - and inadvertently kicked off a global movement

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Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

In 2019 the climate movement experienced an unprecedented growth in its mobilization capacity and its political and media impact. The success of the movement is closely linked to the figure of Greta Thunberg and the global impact of her discourse and the "Fridays for Future" movement in hundreds of cities around the world.

A study by Silvia Díaz-Pérez, Roger Soler-i-Martí and Mariona Ferrer-Fons, members of the UPF JOVIS research group of the Department of Communication, analyzes the activist's speeches and messages on social networks and their legitimization through her personal story, and it also looks into the "Fridays for Future" movement in Barcelona, based on Twitter and Instagram posts. The research was based on a project that has received funding from UPF's Planetary Wellbeing call.

Greta Thunberg creates a framework for collective action that is present in her speeches and posts on social networks and has great strength and a great impact

"What it analyzes, the article is how Greta Thunberg creates a framework for collective action that is present in her speeches and posts on social networks and has great strength and a great impact because it is accompanied by a personal story that follows the monomyth structure," Roger Soler-Martí explains. In mythology and art, the monomyth takes the shape of the archetypal journey of the hero who achieves such status by overcoming dangers and adventures after a calling or suffering an event that takes him from an ordinary world to a mythical world.

"Fridays for Future," an international, principally student movement that protests to demand action against global warming and climate change, gained momentum when the activist Greta Thunberg began to demonstrate in front of Swedish Parliament, in August 2018. The "Fridays for Future" movement, despite its diversity, serves Greta Thunberg as an agent of mobilization and resonance.

The "Fridays for Future" movement, despite its diversity, serves as an agent of mobilization and resonance in the activist's frame

The authors studied how Thunberg's global frame is incorporated locally, for which they focused on the case of "Fridays for Future" in Barcelona via Twitter and Instagram content from its creation (February 2019) until the outbreak of the covid-19 pandemic.

The results show a clear influence of the activist in the discourse of local movements and among their followers. As Soler-i-Martí, co-author of the work explains, "despite the rejection of personalist leaderships and despite the particular characteristics of the local group, the activist's global framework is very present in the discourse broadcast on "Fridays for Future" Barcelona social networks."

The construction of the frames in social movements arise from two-way dialogue between the global and the local dimensions

And Soler-i-Martí adds, "In addition, the study reveals how the experience of local groups of the movement also influenced the evolution of Thunberg's discourse, which has changed over time, incorporating new actors and strategies. This element highlights how the construction of the frames in social movements arise from two-way dialogue between the global and the local dimensions."

The analysis provides empirical evidence of the importance of global and local dynamics in social movements on the Internet and highlights that the use of the basic elements of Thunberg's frame lead messages from the local "Fridays for Future" Barcelona movement to have a greater impact on social networks among its followers.

The article is relevant because it shows the glocal (global-local) dynamics in the creation and resonance of the discourse and messages of a global social movement, as well as the central role of social networks in this process. The study ends by showing how the pandemic has altered this framework of collective action that requires adapting to the new circumstances.

More information: Silvia Díaz-Pérez et al, From the global myth to local mobilization: Creation and resonance of Greta Thunberg's frame, Comunicar (2021). DOI: 10.3916/C68-2021-03

Provided by Universitat Pompeu Fabra - Barcelona

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Greta Thunberg and Fridays For Future, from global myth to local mobilization

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In 2019 the climate movement experienced an unprecedented growth in its mobilization capacity and its political and media impact. The success of the movement is closely linked to the figure of Greta Thunberg and the global impact of her discourse and the "Fridays for Future" movement in hundreds of cities around the world.

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Greta Thunberg is an environmental activist.

At the age of 11, Greta became so sad about climate change that she temporarily stopped speaking!

Greta has Asperger syndrome, a condition that affects how people socialise.

In August 2018, Greta decided to take action.

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Greta Thunberg, in full Greta Tintin Eleonora Ernman Thunberg, (born January 3, 2003, Stockholm, Sweden), Swedish environmental activist who worked to address the problem of climate change, founding (2018) a movement known as Fridays for Future (also called School Strike for Climate).

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Licypriya Kangujam

One of the world's youngest climate activists, Licypriya Kangujam started advocating for local and global climate action since the age of six, where she protested outside the Indian parliament with a specific set of demands, including air pollution laws and to make climate-change literacy mandatory in schools.

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Alex Lin was a boy who was just reading the newspaper one day. He read an article about something called e-waste. He learned that it is the waste generated as people upgrade electronic devices. When people are done with things like computers, phones, mp3 players, etc. and throw them away, that's e-waste. He also learned that e-waste is dangerous to the environment. Yet this was not something that was not widely known. Alex decided to do something about it.

To help stop e-waste, Alex got help from his community service group, the Westerly Innovations Network (WIN). WIN spread the message about e-waste and gave people a chance to recycling and refurbish it instead. Before long, Alex and WIN were saving thousands of pounds of e-waste from being thrown away! They helped recycle e-waste and refurbish computers to donate to those in need in America and in other countries. Alex and WIN are helping save the environment, one old computer at a time! This video tells all about Alex's great efforts.

Additional Resources:

Here is an article about Alex and his efforts.

Here is an interview with Alex.

Click here for more InspireMyKids stories about the environment.

Find great books in our store, like Acting for Nature, about how children can help the environment.

This video is about recycling e-waste.

Topics for Discussion:

Think about all the electronics families have. How often do they get replaced? Where do the electronics go after the family is done with them?

One of Alex's inspirations is the quote "Brick walls are there for a reason. They give us a chance to show how badly we want something." Are there any "brick walls" in your life that you can get past if you just work harder on them?

Take Action:

Talk to family and friends about the danger of e-waste and tell them to recycle their old electronics!

Check out the Environmental Protection Agency website for information about how you can help recycle e-waste!

Teacher Features:

Here is a link to a Critical Reading Skills worksheet that you can use for elementary school students.

Here is a link to a Critical Reading Skills worksheet that you can use for middle school students.

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Alex Lin - Turning E-Waste Into E-Treasure - InspireMyKids

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Alex Lin was a boy who was just reading the newspaper one day. He read an article about something called e-waste. He learned that it is the waste

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Meet the teenager whose one-person protest sparked a worldwide climate revolution! Discover more about this young eco-hero in our top ten Greta Thunberg facts...
Who is Greta Thunberg?

1) Greta Thunberg is an environmental activist. She was born in Stockholm, Sweden, in 2003. When she was eight, she started learning about climate change. The more she learned, the more baffled she became as to why so little was being done about it.

2) At the age of 11, Greta became so sad about climate change that she temporarily stopped speaking!

3) Greta has Asperger syndrome, a condition that affects how people socialise. But Greta views her condition as a positive, calling it her "superpower"! She says it helps her see the world in black and white, and that there are "no grey areas when it comes to climate change."

4) In August 2018, Greta decided to take action. Instead of going to school, she made a large sign that read ' SCHOOL STRIKE FOR CLIMATE ', and calmly sat down outside the Swedish parliament. Her aim? To make politicians take notice and act to stop global warming.

5) Greta was inspired by teenage activists in Florida, USA, who were protesting to end gun violence. Read more about the School Strike for Climate protests that Greta inspired!

6) Greta's strike was picked up by the Swedish media, and the word started to spread. Soon enough, tens of thousands of students from around the world joined her #FridaysforFuture strikes - skipping school on Fridays to protest against climate change.

Greta with her original sign outside the Swedish parliament.

7) In March 2019, climate campaigners across the world, and inspired by Greta, came together to co-ordinate the first Global Strike for Climate. It was huge - over 1.6 million people from 125 countries took part! There are further global strikes planned for September this year.

8) Since her strike began, Greta's life has become a whirlwind! She's given rousing speeches to politicians, to the EU parliament, the UK parliament, to protesters and more. She's appeared in documentaries and had loads of books and articles written about her. She's even been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize!

9) In August 2019, Greta travelled on a wind and solar-powered boat from Plymouth, UK, to New York, USA - the journey took 15 days! Greta will be at the United Nations Climate Action Summit in New York, where she'll demand action from world leaders.

10) Greta has named Rosa Parks, the civil rights activist, as one of her greatest inspirations. In the 1950s, Rosa sparked a civil rights movement that improved the lives and treatment of millions of African Americans.

What do you think of our Greta Thunberg facts? Let us know by leaving a comment, below!

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Who is Greta Thunberg, and is she making a difference? Discover more about this young eco-hero in our top ten Greta Thunberg facts...

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As the impacts of climate change intensify with each passing year, more and more young people are joining the movement for positive change. By leading the discussion around climate change, they are also spreading awareness and motivating others to take action.

UNICEF partnered with Fridays For Future, an organization founded by Greta Thunberg, to speak to youth climate activists on how climate change has affected them and what they're doing to fight it. They share their experiences and encourage others to take action for a cleaner, cooler and happier world.

María, Mexico

Since childhood, María, 19, has seen the impacts of the climate crisis up close, especially the water crisis that runs throughout Mexico. While droughts and rising temperatures are causing forest fires, cyclones are causing flooding and harvests to be lost. To fight this, she became a full-time climate activist. She believes that the issue of water scarcity cannot be seen in isolation but as a part of the larger ecosystem.

"To preserve water, we have to preserve the forests."

Russell, Dominica

Russell Raymond, 17, is a reporter from the Caribbean nation of Dominica. When Hurricane Maria made landfall in September 2017, it devastated his country, submerging streets, blowing roofs off homes and schools and forcing his family to seek shelter. Since then, he has used photography to chronicle the impacts of the hurricane on the island he calls home. In this video he revisits some of those memories.

"Alternate forms of energy like solar energy and wind ... can stop climate change or at least put a dent in it."

What Russell saw in the aftermath of the hurricane: See the photo essay >>

Mitzi, Philippines

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Mitzi Jonelle Tan, an activist from Manila, has been campaigning for climate justice. As the Philippines was hit by two back-to-back hurricanes in 2020, her organization sprang into action - feeding the communities left hungry and asking them about their problems and how they felt after the storm.

"This isn't just about the weather and the environment. It's about justice."

From amplifying voices for climate justice to demanding accountability, read about Mitzi's work >>

Nkosi, Zimbabwe

Nkosilathi Nyathi, 17, is a UNICEF climate activist from Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. He walks us through changes he has witnessed first-hand as a result of climate change. He feels that although young people can see and feel the effects of climate change, many don't know what's happening and he wants to change that.

"There's no other time for acting than now."

What keeps Nkosi on the frontline for climate justice? Read his blog post >>
Climate change is impacting the lives of children and young people everywhere. The world needs to keep to its commitment to limit warming to 1.5oC.

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Young climate activists demand action and inspire hope

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Meet some of the youth activists on the frontline of climate change