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German FM 'grateful' for Swedish teen's climate activism

Posted August 20, 2019 7:00 am

The Associated Press

BERLIN (AP) - Germany's foreign minister says he's "grateful" for Swedish teenager Greta Thunberg's climate protests.

Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said Tuesday - one year after Thunberg first staged a protest in front of the Swedish parliament - that she was addressing "the biggest crisis of humanity." Maas said on Twitter that the 16-year-old "also shows what can be done in a democracy."

Thunberg's campaign, begun on Aug. 20, 2018, has inspired tens of thousands of students in Europe and beyond to stage weekly protests urging leaders to tackle global warming.

The Swede is currently on a sailing boat traveling to a U.N. climate conference in New York.

Thunberg said before her departure that she wanted to show it's possible to cross the Atlantic without producing large amounts of climate-warming greenhouses gases, as flying does.

Climate change activist Greta Thunberg addresses the media during a press conference in Plymouth, England, Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2019. The 16-year-old climate change activist who has inspired student protests around the world will leave Plymouth, England, bound for New York in a high-tech but low-comfort sailboat.(AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth) The Associated Press

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