Sweden honoring Greta Thunberg with postage stamp

Sweden will release a postage stamp honoring 18-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg, the state postal service announced in a statement Wednesday.

The stamp, set to be released Thursday, is part of a series highlighting environmental issues, which postal service PostNord said “should reflect our time, where the environmental issue has been relevant and present for many years, not least through Greta Thunberg’s strong voice,” according to The Associated Press.

Thunberg will be depicted on the stamp standing on a hilltop in art by Swedish artist Henning Trollback, according to the AP. The five-stamp “Valuable Nature” series will cost the equivalent of $1.40 each.

“We’re pleased that Greta, among several illustrations of important nature, will be symbolized on our stamps,” PostNord’s Kristina Olofsdotter told The Guardian. “These natural places are very important and we all need to do our part to preserve them.”

Thunberg received international attention in 2018 when she began a solo strike outside the Swedish Parliament in Stockholm to call for more aggressive action on climate change. She was later joined by other young people both in Stockholm and in cities around the world, and would later address the United Nations Climate Summit in 2019.

Thunberg, who neither travels by air nor eats meat, told The Sunday Times in January that her lifestyle is intended to show her own sincerity rather than “tell … anyone else what to do.”

“There is a risk when you are vocal about these things and don’t practice as you preach, then you will be criticized and what you are saying won’t be taken seriously,” she said.