Immediately vows to donate all through her foundation to organizations and projects “on the front lines” of Climate Crisis
Greta Thunberg, Time Magazine’s “Person of the Year” for 2019 has acquired another prize for her humanitarian efforts. The global pandemic has, to some degree, taken attention away from the climate crisis and, by extension, it’s most famous spokesperson. There have also been signs of a backlash, potentially due to overexposure, but more likely stemming from various actors, backed by the fossil fuel industry and its proponents, trying to drum up support for a dying business model.
For example, a brief attempt to champion an “anti-Greta” figure, Naomi Seibt, a 19-year-old from Münster, Germany, who gained some media attention in February of this year for her “climate skeptic” stance. Reports surfaced that she was being paid by a group associated with the Tump administration and was being put forward as an unofficial spokesperson for Arthur B. Robinson Center for Climate and Environmental Policy at the Heartland Institute, a libertarian think tank.
The massive crash in the price of oil in April and the aforementioned pandemic seems to have derailed her budding career as a solution for the fossil fuel industry to the “Greta problem”.
In the video (above) released via twitter, Greta pledged to give away all the funds “as quickly as possible”. Her first recipient was named, along with the amount to be given; 100,000 Euros to the SOS Amazonia Campaign known via @FridaysForFutureBrasil. A second award, also in the amount of 100,000 Euros, will go to the Stop Ecocide Foundation
Read more: The Rise of Climate Activism, Jane Fonda, Greta Thunberg and the Extinction Rebellion
Further grants will be awarded to those fighting for climate crisis solutions and for “a sustainable world”.
”Also, to help organizations and projects who are fighting for a sustainable world and who are fighting to defend nature and the natural world.”
The Gulbenkian Prize for Humanity
Based on twitter reactions, the prize is not well known in the US. Based in Portugal, The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation has established an international jury to choose the prize recipient. The Prize is awarded annually for “contributions to mitigation and adaptation to climate change”.
“The Gulbenkian Prize for Humanity, awarded annually, in the amount of 1 million euros, aims to recognise people, groups of people and/or organisations from all over the world whose contributions to mitigation and adaptation to climate change stand out for its novelty, innovation and impact.”
The Foundation’s goals, which the prize seeks to highlight, are an acceleration to a carbon neutral society and to mitigate negative effects of climate change on people, the environment and the economy.
Read more: Wildly Optimistic Assumptions for a Post-Pandemic Future: Sci-Fi Doomsday or Utopian Dream?
Though fewer headlines have been seen relating to current events surrounding the climate crisis, they are sure to return as the problem is far from over. Temperatures worldwide continue to shock and break records. Greta Thunberg putting her fame and award proceeds to good use is a bright spot on the horizon during an admittedly difficult year for our planet and species. Below are the original tweets
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