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Vegan teen climate activist Greta Thunberg has won the prestigious Prix Liberté.
Thunberg, 16, is the first recipient of this new award, which was designed to honor a young person ‘engaged in a fight for peace and freedom’. The award comes with prize money of €25,000.
The campaigner has made global headlines through her efforts, which include encouraging students to attend demonstrations demanding political action on climate change while ‘on strike’ from school. Her influence has spread beyond her native Sweden throughout Europe and beyond
Donating the prize money
Thunberg said she will be splitting all of the prize money between four organizations dedicated to climate justice:
These include CARE, which helps women and girls in the global south to cope with the effects of rising temperatures and a changing climate, and The Adaptation Fund – which helps vulnerable communities in developing countries adapt and build resilience to climate change.
350.org and Greenpeace International who in Thuberg’s words ‘both fight for climate justice, the environment, and to keep the fossil fuels in the ground’, will also receive donations.
‘Grateful and honored’
“I am very grateful and honoured to have won the Prix Liberté!” Thunberg said in a post on social media.
“The other final nominees have stood up for human rights in a way that I can’t even imagine. We must constantly be reminded of the sacrifices they have made. Lu Guang and Raif Badawi are true heroes of our time.
“The climate crisis is not only threatening the living conditions for billions of people. It is indeed threatening our whole civilization as we know it. And it is the ones who are the least responsible who are affected the most.”
Nobel Peace Prize
Last month it was revealed that Thunberg had been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. Under Nobel Peace Prize rules any national lawmaker can nominate someone for the prize.
Three Norwegian lawmakers from the Socialist Left Party named Thunberg, saying ‘the massive movement Greta has set in motion is a very important peace contribution’, adding ‘climate threats are perhaps one of the most important contributions to war and conflict’.
The activist said she is ‘honored and very grateful for this nomination’.
Thunberg will receive her award on June 4, 2019, at the Normandy International Forum for Peace.
