Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Greta Thunberg finally returning to school after year-long climate strike

Top teen activist spent past year fighting climate ignorance around globe

Liam James
Tuesday 25 August 2020 15:41 BST
Comments
Greta Thunberg returns to school in Sweden after year away

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Greta Thunberg said she is finally returning to school after a year of campaigning around the globe for tougher action on the climate crisis.

The teenage environmental activist spent the past year travelling the world, notably crossing the Atlantic by sailboat and more recently demanding change from political and business leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Now she is going back to school in her home country of Sweden, where high school classes are returning this week.

“My gap year from school is over, and it feels so great to finally be back in school again!” Greta tweeted to her four million followers on Monday, along with a picture of herself wearing a rucksack and clutching the handlebars of a bicycle.

Greta was propelled onto the world stage back in August 2018 when she staged lone protests outside Sweden’s parliament building in Stockholm holding a banner that read ”Skolstrejk for klimatet”, or School Strike for Climate, as the global movement of young activists inspired by her action came to be known.

Children all over the world followed her lead and began taking Fridays off school in order to protest against the failings of the older generations to adequately tackle climate change.

In 2019, Greta became Time magazine’s youngest ever Person of the Year and was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize.

Towards the new year, she met with Sir David Attenborough (over Skype) to discuss the crisis and the difference in perception of the threat between different generations. The pair also exchanged thanks for inspiring one another in various ways.

Most recently, she met with German chancellor Angela Merkel to demand tougher action on climate change. Ahead of the trip, she signed a joint statement accusing world leaders of “giving up” on the Paris agreement on account of “ignorance, denial and unawareness”.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in