The world’s young climate activists will come out of the coronavirus crisis even stronger and more motivated than before, their figurehead Greta Thunberg predicted on Wednesday.

In an online video conversation on the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, the Swedish 17-year-old said members of the Fridays for Future movement - students who strike each week to demand action to curb global warming - retain a “big sense of resistance”.

Lockdowns and other restrictions imposed by governments to stem the spread of Covid-19 - which has killed about 180,000 people this year - have forced activists to go online with digital protests, virtual meetings and educational webinars.

But Thunberg told the discussion broadcast on YouTube from the Nobel Prize Museum in Stockholm that she felt “many people have not lost their sense of hope”, despite living through tough times.

“We have just changed the way we do things, and we are maybe just saving it for later,” she added. “People are thinking we will get out of this and when we do, we will continue and we will do everything we can… to continue to push even harder.”

Rockstrom, a climate scientist, said the twin coronavirus and climate crises were proof humans were living beyond the planet’s means and had a common interest in tackling environmental problems from deforestation to wildlife trafficking.

He said it had been good to see citizens around the planet taking precautions in the face of the coronavirus pandemic.

When facing uncertain threats “you have to back off and you have to be careful and you have to reduce risk - and that’s exactly what the climate crisis is about”, he added.

“It’s the world’s chance to recover better,” she added.

Read the full article about climate activism in handling environmental problems during COVID-19 Thomson Reuters Foundation at Eco-Business.