Greta Thunberg Donates More Than $1M in Prize Money to People Affected by COVID-19, Climate Change

Greta Thunberg began with large donations to the Stop Ecocide Foundation and SOS Amazonia

Greta Thunberg.

Greta Thunberg will donate more than a million dollars she received in prize money to organizations helping make change amid the global climate crisis and pandemic.

The Swedish climate activist, 17, recently won the Gulbenkian Prize for Humanity, which awarded her the equivalent of $1.15 million — money Thunberg said she’ll put toward creating “an impact” and “difference.”

“This means a lot to me and I hope that it will help me do more good in the world,” she said in a statement. “And the prize money… that is more money than I can even begin to imagine, but all the prize money will be donated through my Foundation to different organizations and projects who are working to help people on the frontlines affected by the climate crisis and ecological crisis, especially in the Global South.”

Thunberg added that she also intends to help organizations and projects working toward a more sustainable world and fighting to “defend nature and the natural world.”

To kick things off, Thunberg said she will donate €100,000 ($115,000) to the SOS Amazonia campaign, which is helping tackle COVID-19 in the Amazon and is led by Fridays for Future in Brazil.

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She also said she will give €100,000 ($115,000) to the Stop Ecocide Foundation to support the group’s work in making ecocide an international crime.

Thunberg was selected as the prize winner among 136 nominees, and was praised by the Grand Jury for her “charismatic and inspiring personality,” as well as the force with which she’s presented her message to the world and inspired change.

“The way Greta Thunberg has been able to mobilize younger generations for the cause of climate change and her tenacious struggle to alter a status quo that persists, makes her one of the most remarkable figures of our days,” Jorge Sampaio, Chair of the Grand Jury of the Prize, said in a statement.

The Gulbenkian Prize for Humanity — which is presented by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation — is awarded annually to people, groups and/or organizations around the world “whose contributions to mitigation and adaptation to climate change stand out for its novelty, innovation and impact.”

Thunberg has been the recipient of several awards human rights awards over the last few years, and has twice been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

In April, she donated $100,000 in prize money to UNICEF, with whom she helped launch a campaign to support children affected the coronavirus.

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