LONDON, Feb 20 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) — Teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg is using her prize money from an award known as the alternative Nobel to help set up a non-profit organization in her name "to promote ecological and social sustainability."

Thunberg, 17, who won the Right Livelihood Award in December, will use the $100,000 prize to establish the Greta Thunberg Foundation in Sweden.

The Swedish teenager said in January that she was establishing a foundation to handle the money she gets from book royalties, donations, and prizes.

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg listens to speeches before addressing the U.N. climate conference in Madrid, Spain on Dec, 11 2019.
Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg listens to speeches before addressing the U.N. climate conference in Madrid, Spain on Dec, 11 2019.
Image: Paul White/AP

"We are convinced that Thunberg's new foundation will have a great impact and empower much-needed change," Ole von Uexkuell, the executive director of the Sweden-based Right Livelihood Foundation, said in a statement on Thursday.

Thunberg, who was nominated again for the Nobel Peace Prize by two Swedish legislators this month, is among a growing list of people to dedicate funds to battling the impacts of climate change, sparking discussions on the best use of this money.

Amazon's Jeff Bezos, the world's richest man, this week pledged $10 billion to fund scientists, activists, non-profits, and other groups fighting to protect the environment and counter the effects of climate change.

(Reporting by Amber Milne; Editing by Belinda Goldsmith. Please credit Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women's and LGBTQ rights, human trafficking, property rights, and climate change. Visit www.trust.org)

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Greta Thunberg Is Using Her Award Money to Launch a Climate Foundation