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Swedish teen climate activist Greta Thunberg nominated for Nobel Peace Prize and people are ecstatic

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EPA/ Twitter

In the space of less than a year, 16-year-old Greta Thunberg has emerged as one of the world's most prominent environmental activists and has sparked a global movement of school children striking to demand climate change action.

And now Thunberg has been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize – and people are ecstatic.

The teenager started protesting last summer – by herself – outside the Swedish government until the country aligned itself with the Paris Agreement.

Her actions have since inspired students around the globe, not to mention also bringing her more Twitter followers than the actual Green Party. And on Friday, young people in nearly 100 countries, including Britain, will walk out of school to call on leaders to tackle environmental issues

Thunberg tweeted that she was "honoured" to receive the nomination.

And very soon after, the messages of support came flooding in.

Earlier in the week, Thunberg tweeted that nearly 100 countries will be involved in Friday's global climate strike protest.

Three Norwegian lawmakers put forward Thunberg, who was named one of TIME’s Most Influential Teens of 2019, for the prize.

After her nomination, Parliamentary representative Freddy Andre Oevstegaard told Norwegian media outlet VG:

We have nominated Greta because the climate threat may be one of the most important causes of war and conflict.

The massive movement Greta has set in motion is a very important peace contribution,” he added.

If Thunberg wins, she would be the youngest recipient since Pakistan's Malala Yousafzai, who was 17 when she received the prize.

More: Teenager behind student climate change strike has more Twitter followers than Green Party leaders

More: A 15-year-old explained why she’s striking for climate change and it’s really inspiring

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