As the month of March begins, we commemorate and encourage the study and observance of the vital role which women have played in our world’s history. We take this month as an opportunity to reflect on women’s achievements, issues they faced and continue to face in the struggle to be free, as well as the important role they play in society. One young woman, 18-year-old Greta Tintin Eleonora Ernman Thunberg, is a Swedish environmental activist who is internationally known for challenging world leaders to take immediate action against climate change. 

At the age of 16, Thunberg started sitting outside the Swedish parliament every Friday by herself, holding a sign with the words “Skolstrejk för Klimatet (School Strike for Climate).” 

Thunberg launched the “Fridays For Future” movement in 2018. The movement encouraged students to skip school to demand action on climate change from their governments. That November, when she was only in ninth grade, Thunberg staged a two-week strike outside the Swedish parliament, demanding that her government cut emissions by 15% a year. She still spends every Friday outside the Swedish parliament. As of January 3, 2020, Greta was on week seventy-two of her strike.

At the start of the year, Thunberg said, “My hope for 2021 is that we see an awakening when it comes to the climate and environment, that we start to treat this crisis like the crisis it is,” she says, “and understand what needs to be done— understand that we have failed and that we need to take real bold action right now, that we cannot afford to wait any longer.”

Thunberg partially credits her Asperger’s syndrome for her fierce activist nature. She not only brings more attention to the urgent problem of pollution and climate change but also to Asperger syndrome. 

The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke describes the disorder: “the most distinguishing symptom of AS is a child’s obsessive interest in a single object or topic to the exclusion of any other. Children with AS want to know everything about their topic of interest and their conversations with others will be about little else. Their expertise, high level of vocabulary, and formal speech patterns make them seem like little professors.” 

While being a little professor may not seem like a bad thing, Thunberg has been teased by several seasoned politicians who couldn’t handle the attacks and accusations without forming their own counter-attacks at the now 18-year-old. 

During the two years since she first became known to the public, Thunberg attended the United Nations Climate Action Summit in New York where she delivered her very famous and impactful speech, How Dare You!, and informed the politicians of the world that “People are Suffering. People are dying. Entire ecosystems are collapsing. We are at the beginning of a mass extinction and all you can talk about is money and tales of eternal economic growth. How dare you?” 

Her speech was an eye-opener as well as an inspiration to many young people across the world. And she continues to serve as a role model.