Teen climate change activist Greta Thunberg declines major award, $52K

Oct. 30 (UPI) -- Teen environmental activist Greta Thurnberg -- who called on world leaders at the United Nations last month for immediate action to fight climate change -- has declined an award and $52,000 in prize money, saying that type of honor isn't going to help the cause.

In an Instagram post Tuesday, Greta explained that she is in Los Angeles for the Youth Climate Strike and couldn't accept the Nordic Council's Environment Prize.

"I have decided to decline this prize. Here's why: I am currently traveling through California and therefore not able to be present with you today," she wrote. "I want to thank the Nordic Council for this award. It is a huge honor.

"But the climate movement does not need any more awards. What we need is for our politicians and the people in power start to listen to the current, best available science."

Nordic Council President Hans Wallmark said in a statement he respects Greta's decision.

The council, which exists for inter-parliamentary cooperation among Nordic nations, includes Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Greenland and the Faroe Islands.

Two other activists, Sofia and Isabella Axelsson, spoke in Greta's place at the ceremony in Stockholm Tuesday.

Greta's lengthy Instagram post is critical of Nordic nations, including her native Sweden, for their efforts in fighting climate change.

"The gap between what the science says is needed to limit the increase of global temperature rise to below 1,5 or even 2 degrees -- and politics that run the Nordic countries is gigantic," she wrote. "And there are still no signs whatsoever of the changes required."

The teenager famously traveled across the Atlantic Ocean by boat last month to attend the U.N. General Assembly in New York City -- refusing to fly due to airliners' carbon emissions. At the U.N. Climate Action Summit, she criticized world leaders for "failing us."

"We will not let you get away with this," she warned. "Right here, right now is where we draw the line. The world is waking up. And change is coming, whether you like it or not."