Greta Thunberg To Interview Sir David Attenborough In Radio Special

Greta Thunberg is set to interview national treasure Sir David Attenborough, as part of a radio special.

The 16-year-old has been named as one of BBC Radio 4's guest editors for December, and will be speaking to the 93-year-old about the "ongoing climate crisis".

The teenage activist announced the news on the channel's official Twitter account.

She said: "We'll be reporting about the scale of the ongoing climate crisis and I'll be talking to David Attenborough for the first time."

This comes just a few weeks after Thunberg was named Time's Person Of The Year for 2019.

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In an article that explained why Thunberg had been named as the Person of the Year, Edward Felsenthal, TIME's editor-in-chief wrote: "When she first heard about global warming as an eight-year-old, Thunberg says she thought, 'That can't be happening, because if that were happening, then the politicians would be taking care of it'.

"That they weren't is precisely what motivated her to act, as it has youth the world over who are forcing us to confront the peril of our own inaction, from the student-led protests on the streets of Santiago, Chile, to the young democracy activists fighting for rights and representation in Hong Kong to the high schoolers from Parkland, Fla., whose march against gun violence Thunberg cites as an inspiration for her climate strikes."

Thunberg is the youngest individual ever named TIME's Person of the Year, with Felsenthal going on to outline: "Thunberg demands action, and though far too many key measures are still moving in the wrong direction, there are nascent signs that action is coming.

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"Corporate commitments to sustainable growth and net-zero emissions are on the rise. More than 60 countries have pledged to have a net carbon footprint of zero by 2050. American primary voters, especially in states beset by wildfires and flooding, are suddenly giving presidential candidates an earful on climate change.

"In Austria's September elections, the Green Party more than tripled its support at the expense of the Social Democrats, a development a leader of the Social Democrats attributed to Thunberg - just before he resigned. Even as China burns half the world's coal, it too is changing. It's now home to roughly 45 percent of the electric cars and 99 percent of the electric buses in the world."

Thunberg has been at the forefront of the fight against global warming for some time, with people inspired to take action after seeing her weekly protests outside the Swedish parliament a year ago.

Last week, she weighed into the bushfire crisis that is gripping parts of Australia.

There has been a lot of criticism directed at the federal government for not doing more to get ready for what was expected to be an horrific bushfire season.

Taking to Twitter, she said: "Not even catastrophes like these seem to bring any political action. How is this possible?

"Because we still fail to make the connection between the climate crisis and increased extreme weather events and nature disasters like the #AustraliaFires. That's what has to change. Now."

Topics: Greta Thunberg, UK News, Entertainment, BBC, Sir David Attenborough

Dominic Smithers

Dominic graduated from the University of Leeds with a degree in French and History. Like you, Dom has often questioned how much use a second language has been. Well, after stints working at the Manchester Evening News, the Accrington Observer and the Macclesfield Express, along with never setting foot in France, he realised the answer is surprisingly little. But I guess, c'est la vie. Contact us at [email protected]

@SmithersDom