Giving Compass' Take:

• Global Citizen profiles a young girl from Sweden who protested at the World Economic Forum in Davos and her climate activism goals to save our planet from the costly effects of climate change. 

• How can stories like this inspire other youth to drive climate action? How does her bravery represent a new kind of youth who is engaged in protecting our environment?

Here's how America's youth is keeping up momentum on activism. 


Greta Thunberg gave up air travel because planes emit astronomical amounts of greenhouse gas emissions. She skips class every Friday to protest, even though she loves school, because of Sweden’s failure to live up to the Paris climate agreement. And the 16-year-old has given up nearly all of her hobbies to focus exclusively on saving the planet.

“I used to play theatre, sing, dance, play an instrument, ride horses, lots of things,” she told the Guardian. But now she spends all her time campaigning for sustainability. “You have to see the bigger perspective.”

On Wednesday, Thunberg capped off 32 hours of train travel to camp in Davos with climate scientists in temperatures that plunged to -18 degrees Celsius.

She traveled to the mountainous area to protest the World Economic Forum (WEF) and urge the gathered world leaders and wealthy attendees to do more to address climate change.

Read the full article on this teen's powerful climate activism by Joe McCarthy and  Erica Sanchez at Global Citizen