London — Swedish student activist Greta Thunberg, who rose to prominence in 2018 when she started a global youth movement of school strikes to demand action on climate change, is graduating.

“Today, I graduate from school, which means I’ll no longer be able to school strike for the climate,” Thunburg wrote on social media. “Much has changed since we started, and yet we have much further to go.”

Thunberg’s school walk-outs, which took place on Fridays, led to the creation of the Friday’s for Future campaign, which organized a global strike that saw millions of people in over 150 countries follow her lead and walk out of classes to demand climate change action in 2019.

She has since become an outspoken advocate for action on climate change, traveling around the world to meet global leaders to spread her message, usually traveling sustainably by boat or train .

She said Friday’s strike, number 251, would be her last.

“We are still moving in the wrong direction, where those in power are allowed to sacrifice

marginalized and affected people and the planet in the name of greed, profit and economic growth,” Thunberg said Friday. “There are probably many of us who graduate who now wonder what kind of future it is that we are stepping into, even though we did not cause this crisis.”

Thunberg said even though she’d no longer be able to strike from school each Friday, she would continue to work to get global leaders to address climate change.

“We who can speak up have a duty to do so. In order to change everything, we need everyone. I’ll continue to protest on Fridays, even though it’s not technically ‘school striking.’ We simply have no other option than to do everything we possibly can. The fight has only just begun.”

First published on June 9, 2023 / 8:45 AM

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