Sweden’s “Alternative Nobel Prize” for Greta Thunberg

STOCKHOLM: Swedish teen activist, who has initiated a global movement which raises the issue of climate change with the world leaders, Greta Thunberg was named the recipient of the 2019 Right Livelihood Award, also known as Sweden’s Alternative Nobel Prize, today, September 25, 2019. She won the award “for inspiring and amplifying political demands for urgent climate action reflecting scientific facts,” the Right Livelihood Foundation said in a statement.

The teen activist, who is only 16, has denounced world leaders on Monday, September 23, for failing to address the climate change issue in a moving speech at the start of a climate summit at the United Nations in New York.

Thunberg shares the award with Brazilian indigenous leader Davi Kopenawa of the Yanomami people, Chinese women’s rights lawyer Guo Jianmei and Western Sahara human rights defender Aminatou Haidar.

“With the 2019 Right Livelihood Award, we honour four practical visionaries whose leadership has empowered millions of people to defend their inalienable rights and to strive for a liveable future for all on planet Earth,” the foundation said in the statement.

The four laureates will receive a cash award of 1 million Swedish Kronor ($103,000) each.