Former President Obama praised climate activist Greta Thunberg on Tuesday after meeting with the 16-year-old during her visit to Washington, D.C., to lobby lawmakers on environmental issues.
Just 16, @GretaThunberg is already one of our planet’s greatest advocates. Recognizing that her generation will bear the brunt of climate change, she’s unafraid to push for real action. She embodies our vision at the @ObamaFoundation: A future shaped by young leaders like her. pic.twitter.com/VgCPAaDp3C
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) September 17, 2019
Why it matters: Thunberg rose to prominence through weekly climate protests and addresses to the UN Climate Change Summit in Poland and the World Economic Forum in Davos.
- She started the Fridays for Future school climate strikes in August last year when she staged a solo protest outside the Swedish parliament. It's grown into a global movement.
- Thunberg will lead a global climate strike this Friday ahead of the UN Climate Action Summit 3 days later, which she'll address.
The big picture: Thunberg also met with Green New Deal co-sponsor Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) at Congress. Markey tweeted that he was "proud to join young climate activists."
What he's saying: Markey tweeted, "By failing to take meaningful action on climate, our leaders failed the young people of the world. A generation of leaders owes our youngest generations an apology & a commitment to finally take the bold action we’ve failed to achieve."
