The most famous eco-activist has switched to politics. 5 facts about Greta Thunberg
Swedish eco-activist Greta Thunberg, who turns 22 on January 3, was the most popular teenager in 2018. But in recent years, she has added political slogans to her climate protection rhetoric, and the media's attitude toward her has changed markedly. After a sharp speech in support of Palestinians, Western media suspected her of anti-Semitism. What is known about Greta Thunberg - in the material "Izvestia".
Fact 1: Autism Spectrum Disorder Diagnosed
- Doctors diagnosed Greta Thunberg with Asperger's syndrome, which is also called autistic psychopathy. This is an autistic disorder in which it is difficult for a person to communicate with others, understand other people's emotions and formulate their own thoughts, he sees the world in black and white and has a limited, repetitive set of interests and activities. According to Thunberg herself, it was really difficult for her to communicate with people, but protest activism gave her the opportunity to do so.
- For Greta, her main interest was fighting climate change. She learned about global warming at the age of eight and became fascinated by the issue. The Swedish schoolgirl gained attention at the age of 15 when she started organizing strikes, which she called "Fridays for the Future." Since none of her classmates were interested in the idea, Greta went on a picket in front of the parliament building alone.
- Her parents note that thanks to the school strikes and protests their daughter has become much happier and has found new friends. Many participants of the "Fridays for the Future" movement created by Greta also have autism spectrum disorders, and the common interest helped them to socialize.
Fact 2: She donates almost everything to charity
- Greta Thunberg's income for the six years she has been an activist is estimated at $1-5 million, mostly from awards and royalties for her books, as well as donations to the foundation of the same name and to the "Fridays for the Future" environmental movement. At the same time, according to the eco-activist herself, she does not stand for money, and the income from the publication of books and various awards is transferred to charity.
- Taking into account the fact that most of the money is spent on donations, the foreign press estimates the net worth of the eco-activist (minus expenses) at $100 thousand. In 2022, Greta Thunberg said that the only source of her income is a student grant, which she received to study at the university (however, she never entered the university). She also keeps some of the money from book sales, explaining that when she translates her works from English into Swedish, she can compensate for the time she spends on it: "it's like... a specific job".
- From the same money she has to pay fines. In May 2024, she was fined 6 thousand Swedish kronor (62 thousand rubles. - Ed.) for blocking the entrance to parliament and disobeying the police during a climate protest. The court also ordered her to pay an additional 1 thousand kroner (10,333 thousand rubles. - Ed.) in damages.
- Despite the fact that on her website Greta Thunberg publishes information about her income from international awards and book sales, as well as the amounts that are directed to charity, there are no specific data on her earnings. But approximately they can be calculated from the court decisions taken against the activist. The fact is that the amount of a fine in Sweden is determined on the basis of the average earnings of the accused. In 2023, the judge estimated that Greta Thunberg's income is 50 Swedish kronor per day (455 rubles), so she earns about 150 kronor (13.5 thousand rubles) per month . This estimate has drawn criticism among Swedish politicians as unrealistic.
- In the future, Greta Thunberg will be able to further monetize her fame. In 2020, she patented her name and the name of the "Fridays for the Future" movement as trademarks in order, she says, to protect them from commercial use.
Fact 3: Greta Thunberg's PR person made $2 million off of her
- One of the first to notice her picket was Swedish entrepreneur and businessman, eco-activist and PR specialist Ingmar Renzhog. According to the Swedish press, it was he who promoted Greta Thunberg's brand: for him the schoolgirl became an element of marketing, with the help of which he managed to promote his own platform and attract about $2 million in investments.
- Radical politicians have benefited the most from the "Greta Thunberg effect". The schoolgirl managed to attract unprecedented attention to environmental and climate issues, and on the wave of public interest around the world, the ratings of political movements promoting the "green" agenda rose sharply.
Fact 4: Moved from climate protests to political protests
- Against the backdrop of the economic problems Europeans have had to face, climate issues have taken a back seat. Young people stopped paying much attention to climate change - in 2022, the "Fridays for the Future" movement has noticeably thinned out. For the "green" parties, the "Greta effect" also lasted for a short time: already in 2024, they began to lose ground in the elections. And the activist began to appear more often in overtly political demonstrations and protests.
- Greta Thunberg was particularly politically active in the fall of 2024: she took part in an anti-Israel protest in Berlin, in opposition marches in Georgia, and in a protest in Yerevan, where she opposed the UN climate summit in Baku. In the same unapologetic manner, which is due to the peculiarities of her health, the activist now accuses states of genocide and ethnic cleansing. But because Greta Thunberg is no longer a child, her political rhetoric is receiving a harsh response in the press.
Fact 5: Criticized for radicalism
- The eco-activist has faced criticism since 2019. Then she went to the UN climate conference in New York on the 18-meter sailing yacht of Pierre Casiraghi, the representative of the princely dynasty of Monaco, to eliminate the emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. The businessman, a major shareholder in the Principality's helicopter company and an avid car racer, thus joined the "green" agenda, but for the activist this step turned out to be a serious miscalculation. The replacement crew flew to the United States by air to bring the yacht back. Critics have calculated that Greta Thunberg sailing to the U.S. produced more greenhouse gases than if she had flown.
- In 2023, the activist deleted a tweet from July 2018 in which she promised, citing leading climate scientists, that humanity would disappear within five years due to climate change. That prediction did not come true, and Thunberg was once again criticized. It turned out that in the publication she had distorted the scientist's quote and added about the "five years" left for humans. The eco-activist was accused of manipulating facts and excessive hysteria around the climate agenda.
- Greta Thunberg was opposed not only by politicians and economists, who reminded how expensive the "green transition" would be, but also by environmental and climate experts. She was reproached for her lack of knowledge of the topic, for not offering anything new, and for not having real scientists behind her shouting.
- After participating in a rally in support of Palestinian Gaza in 2023, Greta Thunberg was accused of anti-Semitism. Her traditionally harsh rhetoric worked against her this time: the activist was accused of supporting Hamas slogans and spreading anti-Semitic conspiracy theories. Israel's Education Ministry promised to remove any mention of Greta Thunberg from curricula because she could no longer serve as a "role model."
- In November, the Swedish activist turned two other countries against her. She accused Azerbaijan of lack of democracy, ethnic cleansing of Armenians, and even of promoting genocide in Palestine. And in Georgia she spoke out against the results of democratic elections. Greta Thunberg is also viewed with wariness in her native Sweden. The local press is talking about the "cancellation" of an eco-activist and how the radicalization of the climate movement could lead to its collapse.
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