Greta Thunberg named Time magazine’s 2019 ‘Person of the Year’

Swedish climate activist, Greta Thunberg, attends a climate rally, in Vancouver, British Columbia, on Friday, Oct. 25, 2019. (Melissa Renwick/The Canadian Press via AP)

Updated @ 9:53 p.m., Dec. 11, 2019

NEW YORK — Teenage Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg was named Time’s youngest “Person of the Year” on Wednesday.

The 15-year-old Thunberg has become the face of the youth climate movement, drawing large crowds with her appearances at protests and conferences over the past year and a half. Some have welcomed her activism, including her speeches challenging world leaders to do more to stop global warming.

But others have criticized her sometimes combative tone.

“For sounding the alarm about humanity’s predatory relationship with the only home we have, for bringing to a fragmented world a voice that transcends backgrounds and borders, for showing us all what it might look like when a new generation leads, Greta Thunberg is TIME’s 2019 Person of the Year,” the media franchise said Wednesday on its website.

Thunberg was in Madrid on Wednesday, where she addressed negotiators at the United Nations’ COP25 climate talks.

Last year’s Time winners included slain Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi; the staff of the Capital Gazette in Annapolis, Maryland, where five people were shot to death; Philippine journalist Maria Ressa; and Reuters journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo.

This photo provided by Time magazine shows Greta Thunberg, who has been named Time’s youngest “Person of the Year” on Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2019. The media franchise said Wednesday on its website that Thunberg is being honored for work that transcends backgrounds and borders. (Time via AP)

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