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Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg poses for pictures as she takes part in the weekly "Fridays For Future" climate strike outside on climate emergency outside the Swedish parliament in Stockholm on January 3, 2020. (Photo: Claudio Bresciani/TT NEWS AGENCY/AFP via Getty Images)
The first #FridaysForFuture protests of the new year and decade coincided with the 17th birthday of Greta Thunberg, who joined fellow young climate action leaders at a demonstration outside Swedish Parliament.
Thunberg--who held the first climate strike by herself 72 weeks ago--returned Friday to the place where she first demanded policy-makers act immediately to stop the planet-warming extraction of fossil fuels, while people in cities around the globe held their own strikes.
In Scotland, 14-year-old demonstrator Holly Gillibrand asked that all supporters of climate action commit to doing "whatever they can in 2020 to make a difference" as a new year of climate strikes began.
Strikers in countries including Uganda, Germany, and Australia also continued their months-long commitment to walking out of their classrooms every Friday to call for far more action from governments to tackle the climate crisis.
Some who attended climate strikes sent Thunberg birthday wishes, with one striker in Ireland tweeting that "climate action now" would be the best gift to give the activist.
Musician Patti Smith wished Thunberg a happy birthday in a poem posted on Instagram, writing that as she turns 17, Thunberg is "asking for no accolade, no gifts, save we not be neutral."
Other supporters also thanked Thunberg for her "bravery" and for "trying to save the world" as "neocons try to destroy" it.
Thunberg thanked supporters for their birthday wishes Friday on Twitter--with her name showing up as "Sharon," a reference to an actress who had called Thunberg by the name the previous night on the British show "Celebrity Mastermind."

Last month, Thunberg changed her biography on Twitter as a send-up of President Donald Trump's remark that the climate leader "must work on her anger management problem."
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
The first #FridaysForFuture protests of the new year and decade coincided with the 17th birthday of Greta Thunberg, who joined fellow young climate action leaders at a demonstration outside Swedish Parliament.
Thunberg--who held the first climate strike by herself 72 weeks ago--returned Friday to the place where she first demanded policy-makers act immediately to stop the planet-warming extraction of fossil fuels, while people in cities around the globe held their own strikes.
In Scotland, 14-year-old demonstrator Holly Gillibrand asked that all supporters of climate action commit to doing "whatever they can in 2020 to make a difference" as a new year of climate strikes began.
Strikers in countries including Uganda, Germany, and Australia also continued their months-long commitment to walking out of their classrooms every Friday to call for far more action from governments to tackle the climate crisis.
Some who attended climate strikes sent Thunberg birthday wishes, with one striker in Ireland tweeting that "climate action now" would be the best gift to give the activist.
Musician Patti Smith wished Thunberg a happy birthday in a poem posted on Instagram, writing that as she turns 17, Thunberg is "asking for no accolade, no gifts, save we not be neutral."
Other supporters also thanked Thunberg for her "bravery" and for "trying to save the world" as "neocons try to destroy" it.
Thunberg thanked supporters for their birthday wishes Friday on Twitter--with her name showing up as "Sharon," a reference to an actress who had called Thunberg by the name the previous night on the British show "Celebrity Mastermind."

Last month, Thunberg changed her biography on Twitter as a send-up of President Donald Trump's remark that the climate leader "must work on her anger management problem."
The first #FridaysForFuture protests of the new year and decade coincided with the 17th birthday of Greta Thunberg, who joined fellow young climate action leaders at a demonstration outside Swedish Parliament.
Thunberg--who held the first climate strike by herself 72 weeks ago--returned Friday to the place where she first demanded policy-makers act immediately to stop the planet-warming extraction of fossil fuels, while people in cities around the globe held their own strikes.
In Scotland, 14-year-old demonstrator Holly Gillibrand asked that all supporters of climate action commit to doing "whatever they can in 2020 to make a difference" as a new year of climate strikes began.
Strikers in countries including Uganda, Germany, and Australia also continued their months-long commitment to walking out of their classrooms every Friday to call for far more action from governments to tackle the climate crisis.
Some who attended climate strikes sent Thunberg birthday wishes, with one striker in Ireland tweeting that "climate action now" would be the best gift to give the activist.
Musician Patti Smith wished Thunberg a happy birthday in a poem posted on Instagram, writing that as she turns 17, Thunberg is "asking for no accolade, no gifts, save we not be neutral."
Other supporters also thanked Thunberg for her "bravery" and for "trying to save the world" as "neocons try to destroy" it.
Thunberg thanked supporters for their birthday wishes Friday on Twitter--with her name showing up as "Sharon," a reference to an actress who had called Thunberg by the name the previous night on the British show "Celebrity Mastermind."

Last month, Thunberg changed her biography on Twitter as a send-up of President Donald Trump's remark that the climate leader "must work on her anger management problem."