2019 is an eventful year for youth activities, especially in the face of climate change. The youth movement for climate action has made a great impact as thousands of people join school strikes and marches to demand accountability and urge governments to take the threats of climate change seriously. 

Since the year (and the decade) is wrapping up, TIME has chosen its annual Person of the Year. TIME magazine has been selecting people of the year since 1927. To be featured on this yearly recognition, the magazine select person, group, object, or idea that has influenced minds and had made a historic event this year—it can be for the better or worse. And 2019's Person of the Year is Greta Thunberg, the face of the climate movement. As Fridays for Future encourages everyone to join the international strike this Friday, Dec. 13, let us take a look at who Greta Thunberg is and how did she change the environmental movement. 

 

WHO IS GRETA THUNBERG?

Thunberg was only fifteen years old when she began skipping school on Fridays to protest the lack of government action towards climate change alone in front of the Parliament in Sweden. Her dedication gained attention from environmental groups and like-minded youth and started the movement #FridaysForFuture. Her powerful speech at the 2018 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP24) further fueled the fire of the youth to join the climate strike all over the world.

Earlier this year, Thunberg sailed the Atlantic Ocean in a solar-powered racing yacht to attend the 2019 United Nations Climate Change Conference scheduled to happen in Santiago, Chile. Unfortunately, the conference was postponed, and the venue was moved to Madrid (READ: Greta Thunberg Asks For Help to Reach the Climate Summit in Madrid). 

Ever since her powerful speech at the COP24, climate strikes all over the world grew bigger by the number, often joined by students and young people. It is reported that the attendees for these strikes never go below a million. The media dubbed this as the "Greta Effect" (READ: Concrete Climate Solutions are the Key to End These Climate Protests).

For people in the movement, Greta symbolizes the agony, frustration, anger, and hope of many young people. In an interview with TIME magazine, she says, "We can't continue living as if there was no tomorrow, because there is a tomorrow."

WHY IS GRETA THUNBERG TIME'S PERSON OF THE YEAR?

Thunberg is everything the world was not expecting: brave, unforgiving, relentless. She is openly criticizing leaders—never sugarcoating words when she does—and never backs down from intimidation and being made fun of. Edward Felsenthal, editor-in-chief for TIME magazine wrote on the editorial, "Thunberg has become the biggest voice on the biggest issue facing the planet—and the avatar of a broader generational shift in our culture that is playing out everywhere from the campuses of Hong Kong to the halls of Congress in Washington." 

At 16, Greta Thunberg is the youngest recipient of the award. She is among world leaders and pioneers and even faceless figures, which the magazine has chosen to be the most influential people. On this list with Thunberg are the Hong Kong protesters, soccer player Megan Rapinoe, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and the anonymous whistleblower, to name a few. 

Thunberg may not like awards or does not need the recognition of being the poster child of the climate movement. Still, her contributions, especially in making the world listen to the advancement of stopping climate change, is truly extraordinary. But it won't stop there. Thunberg and the youth are planning more strikes under #FridaysForFuture in the years to come.

READ: Climate Change Affects East Asian Monsoon

 

THE CLIMATE MOVEMENT

The environmental movement is not something new. It has existed for as early as 1948, just right after the second world war. Greta Thunberg may be the poster child, but the fight for a better environment did not start with her (nor is she claiming to be), and often, it is not all chants and high spirits. Indigenous people from all over the world are the first in line when it comes to environmental feud since they are the ones that have close ties with nature economically and culturally. Legal battles would ensue between the indigenous peoples' fight for ancestral lands and the corporation's need to harvest raw materials in these lands. Cases such as the Dakota Access Pipeline in the United States, the mining areas in the Philippines, and the burning of the Amazon forests are examples of how the indigenous people face an everyday environmental struggle. 

One good thing that the "Greta Effect" has brought is that it somehow consolidated the countries to join the climate strike, and more importantly, it spoke to the youth of the importance of their voice, especially in matters involving the future of the planet and life.