Greta Thunberg, activist or attention hog? You can love or hate her, but you can't ignore her | Her controversies, listed
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Greta Thunburg at the Gaza aid ship, and a file picture of the Swedish climate activist are shown in this combo Photograph: (others)
Thunberg, who became famous for her Friday school-bunking protests to drive awareness on the climate crisis, is controversy's child. Here are some of the biggest such incidents
Greta Thunberg was detained on Monday (June 9) by Israeli authorities while on her way to deliver aid to Gaza on a ship. The Swedish activist claimed she was kidnapped, while reports said the flotilla was towed towards Israel. The ship sailed towards Gaza to protest Israel’s blockade of Gaza. Israeli authorities called her and her supporters 'Hamas propaganda spokespeople.'
Thunberg, who became famous for her Friday school-bunking protests to drive awareness on the climate crisis, is controversy's child. She has hogged the limelight over various protests, mainly on climate, but has been a polarising figure, drawing equal amounts of admiration and scorn.
She was at the centre of controversy in India for sharing a 'tool kit' on disruptive activism.
Here is a look at the most controversial moments in the life of Greta Thunberg.
School strike for climate justice
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Grata was aged 15 when she started skipping school to protest outside the Swedish parliament in 2018. In her one-person protest for several days, she held a placard 'School Strike for Climate', leading to a global youth movement called 'Fridays for Future'. As many of these protests involved students bunking classes to hold climate justice protests, many criticised it as an excuse to skip classes.
Global Climate Strikes and famous UN Climate Summit speech : 'How dare you'
In subsequent years, Greta led climate justice protests in more than 160 countries. In 2019, she arrived at the UN Climate Action Summit in New York in a yacht to avoid flying, and made a speech.
Her speech at the summit became famous for the 'how dare you' remark. “You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words… How dare you!,” she asked global leaders who she accused of failing to act on climate crisis.
Blah blah blah speech
At a protest during climate summit of COP26 in Glasgow in 2021, Thunberg made another speech slamming world leaders.
Her famous words were: “Build back better. Blah, blah, blah. Green economy. Blah, blah, blah. Net zero by 2050. Blah, blah, blah.”
‘Against the Wall’ remark
Thunberg said in 2019 that world leaders should be put "against the wall," which was seen as an incitement to violence. She later apologised and said it was from a Swedish expression, asking for holding leaders accountable.
India toolkit controversy
In 2021, Greta shared an activist ‘toolkit’ to support the then ongoing farmers' protest against the Indian governemnt's agri reform laws. She later deleted the post, which caused a political furore in India over alleged foreign interference in its internal affairs, and related conspiracy theories.
Deutsche Bahn train Incident
Greta shared a picture of herself on the floor, appearing to show how trains are overcrowded in Germany. But rail authorities said she had been offered a first-class seat. Greta later said she got the seat after a four-hour wait.
'Staged arrest' in German coal mine protest
Greta was held in Lützerath, Germany, while protesting against a coal mine expansion in 2023. She was accused of staging her arrest and being a crisis actor, though it was later confirmed that the arrest was indeed real.
Pro-Palestinian activism
In 2024, German authorities blocked Greta from addressing a pro-Palestinian student rally, calling her 'prone to violence', citing that her supporters attacked officers.
When she invited Afghan and Palestinian women to speak at a climate protest in 2023 in Amsterdam, a man interrupted her, asking her not to bring political issues into a climate justice protest. She said, 'no climate justice on occupied land'.
Named the youngest Time Person of the Year in 2019 at the age of 16, Greta is no friend of US President Donald Trump, who once tweeted that the activist should work on her "Anger Management problem."
She has been nominated for Nobel Peace Prize several times.
