BBC Studios has announced a documentary series about the teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg. The new show will follow Thunberg’s “international crusade” against the climate emergency, focusing on her campaign work as well as her “journey into adulthood”. It will also see Thunberg meet with scientists, politicians and businesspeople to explore the evidence around rising global temperatures.



In a statement, the executive producer, Rob Liddell, said: “Climate change is probably the most important issue of our lives so it feels timely to make an authoritative series that explores the facts and science behind this complex subject. To be able to do this with Greta is an extraordinary privilege, getting an inside view on what it’s like being a global icon and one of the most famous faces on the planet.”

Stockholm-born Thunberg came to prominence after organising a school strike against the climate crisis in 2018, under the banner Fridays for Future. She has since gained global recognition, and has addressed the United Nations, been nominated for the Nobel peace prize in 2019 and 2020, and been named Time magazine’s person of the year 2019. Thunberg’s activism has prompted criticism from seeming climate science deniers, among them Donald Trump, who described her as having an “anger management problem” in December.

The 17-year-old also remains at the forefront of climate activism. Writing in the Guardian last month, she urged world leaders attending the World Economic Forum in Davos to abandon investments in fossil fuels, describing it as “madness”. Thunberg went on to describe the climate crisis as “extremely complicated, and this is an emergency. In an emergency you step out of your comfort zone and make decisions that may not be very comfortable or pleasant. And let’s be clear – there is nothing easy, comfortable or pleasant about the climate and environmental emergency.”

The announcement of the BBC series follows news that the US broadcaster Hulu is making a documentary about Thunberg with the working title Greta.