On August 20, 2018, fifteen-year-old Greta Thunberg sat alone outside the Swedish Riksdag with a hand-painted sign reading "Skolstrejk for klimatet" (School Strike for Climate). Her solitary protest, born from frustration at adult inaction on climate change, went viral on social media. Within months, millions of young people in 150 countries joined Fridays for Future strikes. In September 2019, an estimated 4 million people participated in the Global Climate Strike — the largest climate demonstration in history. Thunberg's blunt speeches at the UN ("How dare you"), Davos, and the European Parliament made her the face of a generation demanding climate action. She demonstrated the power of individual moral clarity in the age of social media.
Continue reading