Opec honors Greta Thunberg: Employee of the month for climate protection!

Opec honors Greta Thunberg: Employee of the month for climate protection!

Wien, Österreich - Greta Thunberg caused a stir again on June 12, 2025 after it was appointed “OPEC) to“ employee of the month ”by the Organization of Olver oil. This recognition was announced in Vienna by Opec General Secretary Haitham al-Ghais. The Opec-honored Thunberg's commitment to put the topic of climate change into the background and praised its influence on the "Fridays for Future" movement, which has recently lost popularity. It has already been the 21st of this kind that Thunberg has received since October 7, 2023, and it was honored with a framed picture and a gift consisting of two liters of crude oil and a caricature. Interestingly, Iran is considering offering the post as Minister of Women.

The Opecs decision comes at a time when the dynamics of the "Fridays for Future" movement is under pressure. As the taz , the German division of Fridays for future has distanced itself from Thunberg and other international members. Activists have confirmed their course of the past few weeks and have suspended international networking. They now act as an independent organization and see themselves over Thunberg. This distancing takes place against the background of the latest developments in which Thunberg appeared with a Palestinian cloth on a climateemon structure in Amsterdam and emphasized that the climate movement should hear the voices of oppressed people. Their handover of the microphone to a critical voice related to Israel led to protests among the participants.

reactions and controversy

The reactions to Thunberg's appearance were mixed. A man was removed from the stage after protesting her political statements. Thunberg's invitation "No Climate Justice on Occupied Land" underpinned her position, while on social media she had previously taken a position for the Palestinians without mentioning the Israeli victims of the Hamas attack. This led to a variety of reactions, including Josef Schuster, the President of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, who called for a complete decoupling of the Germans from the international movement. Volker Beck, President of the German-Israeli Society, even described Thunberg as "Israelhasser".

The discourse on Thunberg's statements distracts from the central climate protection topics, as Volker Quaschning, professor of regenerative energy systems, notes. Despite such violent discussions, the climate movement is still active. In the Netherlands, according to Volkskrant "Certainly 70,000 people" for the climate, which is considered historical. The demonstration illustrated the split attitude to the Middle East conflict: Leftists solidarized with the Palestinians, while conservative circles supported Israel. Some demonstrators left the event when anti-Israeli slogans were chanted.

The future of Fridays for future

Greta Thunberg started the "Fridays for Future" movement in August 2018 with the hashtag #fridaysforfuture to raise awareness of climate change and to demand a global solution to the climate crisis. The movement has mobilized many young people worldwide and is financed by donations. The goals of the movement include political and social participation in solving the climate problems, keeping global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius and the protection of biological diversity. Despite impressive record numbers for global climate strikes, greenhouse gas emissions have increased, which underlines the challenges of movement.

The developments around Greta Thunberg and the "Fridays for Future" movement show how closely climatic and political issues are intertwined. Their controversies raise the question of how the movements can achieve their goals in an increasingly polarized political climate, while at the same time they have to value the voice of those who are suppressed. sustainable4future provides further information about the organization and the challenges that it faces.