Greta Thunberg Receives Amnesty International’s Ambassador of Conscience Award

By George Biggs
The world-famous activist Greta Thunberg has received the prestigious honour of Amnesty International’s Ambassador of Conscience Award in Washington, DC.
The 16-year-old was credited for her passionate commitment to fighting climate change and for founding the ‘Friday’s for Future Movement’, an international organisation that encourages students to take time off school to protest against global warming.
This follows on from her arriving in New York after a two-week voyage across the Atlantic sea, which she undertook to avoid the massive carbon emissions of taking an airplane. In the US, Greta has spoken at climate change conferences; partook in protests outside the UN and of course, she continued striking every Friday with the students of nearby schools – a protest that she has continued for 56 weeks now.
The Ambassador of Conscience Award was founded in 2002 and created to recognise individuals who act on their conscience to further the cause of human rights and battling injustice. Previous recipients include Nelson Mandela, Malala Yousafzai and Alicia Keys.
After Greta received the award, she addressed the crowd with a powerful speech, saying “We, who together are the movement Fridays for Future, we are fighting for our lives. But not only that, we are also fighting for our future children and grandchildren, for future generations, for every single living being on earth, whose biosphere we share, whose biosphere we are stealing, whose biosphere we are ruining. We are fighting for everyone.”
This impressive accolade will surely be one of many for Greta. Her short career in activism has been superb and her fervent dedication to saving the planet isn’t ceasing any time soon.