Time names climate activist Thunberg Person Of The Year

By Vakkas Dogantekin

ANKARA (AA) - U.S-based Time magazine on Wednesday announced Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg as the 2019 Person Of The Year.

Thunberg launched a global climate awareness campaign in August 2018, skipping school for the future of the planet Earth.

Just in 16 months, she camped out in front of the Swedish parliament to let legislators hear about her movement -- School Strike for Climate, grilled heads of states at the U.N., met with the Pope, clashed with the U.S. president, and inspired 4 million people to join the global climate strike on Sept. 20, 2019, the largest of its kind in the history.

Thanks to her efforts, climate strike was declared the word of 2019 by the Scotland-based Collins dictionary.

Thunberg-led movement -- also known as Fridays for Future and Youth For Climate -- which began in her native country Sweden but since have become a global phenomenon, has sought to bring world governments into full compliance with the 2015 Paris climate accord.

More than 6,100 events were held in 185 countries -- with the support of 73 trade unions, 820 civil society organizations, 3,000 companies and 8,500 websites -- for the Global Climate Strike on Sept. 20, which was recorded as the biggest-ever climate mobilization with the participation of 7.6 million people.

Thunberg has Asperger’s syndrome, which is a developmental disorder characterized by difficulties in social interaction and nonverbal communication.