TIME magazine named Greta Thunberg its 2019 Person of the Year on Wednesday.
This is the first time the magazine has named a teenager, making the 16-year-old Swedish climate change activist the youngest person to ever be named. The record was previously held by 25-year-old Charles Lindbergh in 1927.
The accolade goes to the person or persons who “most influenced the news and the world” during the past year.
On a shortlist of finalists were also President Donald Trump, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, the anonymous whistleblower whose complaint sparked the impeachment in inquiry and those protesting the Chinese government in Hong Kong.
Thunberg, who spoke before the United Nations Climate Action Summit this year, has become a symbol for youth across the world protesting against climate change.
She took the world by storm by organizing the Global Climate Strike in September where millions participated in a worldwide strike against climate change.
In September, Greta gave an impassioned speech before the United Nations Climate Action Summit, where she scolded world leaders for not acting quickly and decisively to combat climate change.
”This is all wrong. I shouldn’t be up here. I should be back in school on the other side of the ocean,” she said.
”People are suffering, people are dying, entire ecosystems are collapsing ... and all you talk about is money and eternal fairy tales of economic growth. How dare you?” she said.
In the United States, Thunberg participated in climate protests in New York City, Iowa City, Los Angeles, Charlotte and Denver.
She also testified before the U.S. Congress in September. Thunberg was one of the witnesses to testify in September before a joint hearing of two House committees on the global climate crisis.
During the hearing, she had a simple message for American lawmakers: Do something.
Last year, TIME named a group of journalists as its person of the year for 2018. Collectively called “the guardians of truth,” the magazine published covers honoring each of the recipients, which included murdered Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi.
Read more at USAToday.com.
