Greta Thunberg is favorite to win Nobel Peace prize
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If oddsmakers are any predictor, Greta Thunberg will be the next winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.
Bookies in Europe have the 16-year-old Swedish climate activist as the favorite to nab the honor, which will be announced Oct. 11.
Thunberg has been inspiring other students by her school strike, “Fridays for Future,” in which she takes time from class to protest for change. Thunberg began striking outside of Swedish parliament last August and has mobilized thousands of fellow students since.
In September, Thunberg was awarded Amnesty International’s highest honor: Ambassador of Conscience Award for 2019.
The prize brings with it a $930,000 award. In past years, the award has gone to figures like Nelson Mandela, Jimmy Carter, Mikhail Gorbachev and, in 2009, Barack Obama.
If Thunberg wins, she would be the first to receive it for environmental work since former U.S. vice president Al Gore shared it in 2007.
At a U.N. climate summit last month, she launched a tirade at world leaders for not doing enough to combat the issue in her now-famous “How dare you?” speech.
On Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested Thunberg may have been manipulated to serve the interests of others.
Speaking at an energy forum in Moscow, Putin said: “I don’t share exultation about Greta Thunberg,” calling her a “kind and sincere girl” who doesn’t understand complex global issues such as the barriers to cleaner energy in developing countries.”
Thunberg would be the youngest person to win the prize. Malala Yousafzai of Pakistan won at age 17 in 2014.
The odds come with a caution: None of the names of those being considered for the prize are announced beforehand.
“What she has done over the past year is extraordinary,” said Dan Smith, the director of Stockholm international peace research institute SIPRI.
“Climate change is an issue which is strongly related to security and peace.”