Greta Thunberg fails to let Nobel snub affect her as she addresses climate change protesters in Denver: 'I'm not disappointed'
Although judges passed her up for the Nobel Peace Prize, 16-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg remains unfazed on losing out on the prestigious award and instead stays focused on her goal of spreading awareness about the environmental crisis that plagues the world.
Hours after the award went to Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed for his efforts to end two decades of conflict with Eritrea, Thunberg, who was busy addressing hundreds of supporters gathered in an outdoor amphitheater in Denver, Colorado, on Friday, October 11, was asked if losing out on the Nobel Prize had affected her in any way.
The Swedish teen told AFP "no" unhesitatingly, adding, "Yeah, I'm very focused. This day was amazing."
Instead of focusing on her loss, Thunberg raised her voice educating the public on humanity's most pressing problem, which made her one of the frontrunners for the Peace Prize in the first place.
"We as young people are tired of constantly being betrayed by those who are supposed to work for our greater good," the activist told the Denver crowd. "We are here because we care about the future, about what we one day will leave after us."
For the occasion, Thunberg donned a cream-colored jacket with her hair tied in her trademark braid. She added to thunderous applause: "But the political leaders can't seem to think beyond the next election, and that needs to come to an end."
The teen rose to prominence last month after delivering a riveting speech at the United Nations climate summit, where she appeared to emotionally scold some of the most powerful leaders ruling the planet for not doing enough to address the issue of climate change.
"How dare you! For more than 30 years the science has been crystal clear. How dare you continue to look away and come here saying that you're doing enough when the politics and solutions needed are still nowhere in sight," she told them, accusing them of caring more about money and economic growth than about the collapsing ecosystems of the world.