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Climate striker Greta Thunberg wins Swedish rights prize
STOCKHOLM, Sept 25, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Swedish climate activist Greta
Thunberg on Wednesday won the Right Livelihood Award, sometimes called the
“alternative Nobel Prize”, the jury for the Swedish human rights prize said.
Thunberg was honoured “for inspiring and amplifying political demands for
urgent climate action reflecting scientific facts,” the Right Livelihood
Foundation said in a statement.
“Her resolve to not put up with the looming climate disaster has inspired
millions of peers to also raise their voices and demand immediate climate
action,” it added. Thunberg’s global climate movement “Fridays for Future”
began in August 2018 when she started sitting alone outside Sweden’s
parliament with her now iconic sign reading “school strike for the climate”.
The message has struck a chord with youths around the world. Last Friday,
an estimated four million plus people took to the streets in over 150
countries to join the “Global Climate Strike” protest, demanding action from
politicians against climate disaster.
This year’s Right Livelihood Award also honours three others, including
Sahrawi human rights activist Aminatou Haidar “for her steadfast non-violent
action, despite imprisonment and torture, in pursuit of justice and self-
determination for the people of Western Sahara”.
Lawyer Guo Jianmei received the award for her “pioneering and persistent
work” for women’s rights in China.
The Brazilian Hutukara Yanomami Association and its leader Davi Kopenawa
were also honoured for their “courageous determination to protect the forests
and biodiversity of the Amazon, and the lands and culture of its indigenous
peoples.”
The Right Livelihood Award was created in 1980 by Swedish-German
philatelist Jakob von Uexkull after the Nobel Foundation behind the Nobel
Prizes refused to create awards honouring efforts in the fields of the
environment and international development.
The award consists of a cash prize of one million Swedish kronor ($103,000
or 94,000 euro) for each laureate, meant to support the recipient’s work.
BSS/AFP/FI/ 1355 hrs