Greta Thunberg: Why has she turned down an award?

Environmental campaigner Greta Thunberg is never afraid to stand up for what she believes in.

The 16-year-old climate change activist has now turned down a prestigious environmental award and £40,000 because she wants world leaders to take action rather than give out prizes.

In an Instagram post the Swedish campaigner told her followers that she'd been given the Nordic Council Environment Prize for 2019 but had "decided to decline".

She thanked the council for the "huge honour" but said the "climate movement does not need any more awards".

Greta has called on politicians and the people in power to stop "bragging" about the reputation the Nordic countries (that's Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, Norway and Finland) have "around the world when it comes to climate and environmental issues".

The teenager pointed out how she thought they needed to take more action.

She also called on them to act alongside science to limit the global temperature rise below 1.5 degrees or even 2 degrees celsius.

She was nominated for the award by Sweden and Norway for "breathing new life into the debate surrounding the environment and climate at a critical moment in world history".

They also said she had inspired millions of people around the world to demand action through FridaysForFuture, a movement she started in August 2018.