(Photo Credit: TIME)

Swedish activist celebrated as TIME’s Person Of The Year

Greta Thunberg, a 16-year-old environmental activist from Sweden, has been named TIME Magazine’s person of the year for 2019. Thunberg gained international fame for a September speech at the United Nations, in which she accused international leaders of “[stealing] my dreams and my childhood” by ignoring the growing threat of global climate change.

Thunberg also encouraged students around the world to skip school on Fridays to protest inaction on climate change and the environment.

“Thunberg began a global movement by skipping school: starting in August 2018, she spent her days camped out in front of the Swedish Parliament, holding a sign painted in black letters on a white background that read Skolstrejk för klimatet: ‘School Strike for Climate,’” TIME wrote.

After TIME announced Thunberg’s honor, several world leaders and politicians congratulated the teen on social media.

“I couldn’t think of a better Person of the Year than @GretaThunberg. I am grateful for all she’s done to raise awareness of the climate crisis and her willingness to tell hard, motivating truths,” Hillary Clinton tweeted. “As she said today: ‘Change is coming, whether you like it or not.'” She ended the tweet with the hashtag #gutsywomen.

But not everyone was pleased with TIME’s selection. President Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., criticized the magazine for overlooking the youth protesters in Hong Kong who have spent months demonstrating for democracy.

“Time leaves out the Hong Kong Protesters fighting for their lives and freedoms to push a teen being used as a marketing gimmick,” Trump Jr. tweeted. Then, he co-opted Thunberg’s most memorable line from her UN speech: “How dare you?”