Nobel Peace Prize for Greta? Bad idea, say two-thirds of Germans
Greta Thunberg’s nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize has been lauded by mainstream media outlets and public figures in Europe, but not everyone is as enthusiastic. Only 15% of Germans welcome the idea, a new poll found.
66 percent of German citizens responded with a clear ‘no’ to the prospect of Thunberg being given the prestigious award, according to a YouGov survey on climate change and the environment. Only 15 percent supported the nomination and 19 percent were undecided.
The famous school-skipper turned eco-activist was tapped as a candidate by Norwegian MPs who used a clause allowing national politicians and some university scholars to nominate people for the prize.
“Greta Thunberg has launched a mass movement which I see as a major contribution to peace,” explained Freddy Andre Ovstegard of the Socialist Party.
If awarded the Peace Prize on October 11, the 16-year-old would become the youngest member of the hall of fame comprised of UN peacekeepers, the International Committee of the Red Cross or political heavyweights like Nelson Mandela, Mikhail Gorbachev or Henry Kissinger.
Greta was thrust into the limelight last year, when she began her lone protest outside the Swedish parliament to demand robust measures against global warming and an environmental crisis.
Hundreds of thousands of people followed suit, joining regular ‘Fridays for Future’ strikes, but her confrontational activism has also attracted scorn and condemnation.
US President Donald Trump, a climate change skeptic, was the first world leader to mock her viral, emotional UN speech, writing in a sarcastic tweet: “She seems like a very happy young girl looking forward to a bright and wonderful future. So nice to see!”
Russian President Vladimir Putin also commented on the young Swede, calling her who nevertheless fails to comprehend the realities of sustainable development and a “complex world.”
“When someone is using children and teenagers in personal interests, it only deserves to be condemned,” he warned.
Earlier, Greta herself insisted “there is no one ‘behind’ me except for myself.” He said her parents, actor Svante Thunberg and former Eurovision singer Malena Ernman, “were as far from climate activists as possible before I made them aware of the situation,” she wrote on Facebook.
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