Teenage activist Greta Thunberg has won a £83,000 'Alternative Nobel Prize' for her crusade to stop climate change.

The 16-year-old is among four people named today as the winners of a Right Livelihood Award, also known as the 'Alternative Nobel.'

Thunberg is being recognized 'for inspiring and amplifying political demands for urgent climate action reflecting scientific facts,' the Swedish prize foundation said.

The Swedish teenager, who has grabbed the world's attention this week with a fiery speech at the UN, was also hailed for 'personifying the notion that everyone has the power to create change'.

Teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg, pictured at the UN in New York City this week, has won an £83,000 'Alternative Nobel Prize' for her environmental activism

'Her example has inspired and empowered people from all walks of life to demand political action,' the foundation said.

As one of the four winners, she will receive one million Swedish kronor (£83,000 or $103,000).

Thunberg has also been nominated for the real Nobel Peace Prize.

An award ceremony is planned in Stockholm on December 4, six days before the Nobel prizes are handed out.

However, Thunberg plans to be in Chile for a climate summit in December so it is unlikely she will be there.

'I’m deeply grateful for being one of the recipients of this great honour,' Thunberg said.

'But of course, whenever I receive an award, it is not me who is the winner. I am part of a global movement of school children, youth and adults of all ages who have decided to act in defence of our living planet.'

The award 'is a huge recognition for [school strike movement] Fridays For Future and the climate strike movement,' she said.

Thunberg's campaign began in August 2018 when she held solitary demonstrations outside Sweden's parliament, skipping classes once a week to protest climate change.

Her solo protest has inspired millions across the world to stage protests urging leaders to tackle global warming.

She arrived in New York last month after a two-week journey by yacht, as she refuses to fly for environmental reasons.

Greta Thunberg holds a 'school strike for climate' sign at a protest in New York City last week, after she arrived in North America on a racing yacht

In her impassioned address on Monday she said: 'This is all wrong. I shouldn't be up here. I should be back in school on the other side of the ocean.

'Yet you have come to us young people for hope. How dare you? 'You have stolen my dreams, my childhood with your empty words.

'Yet I'm one of the lucky ones. People are suffering, people are dying, entire ecosystems are collapsing, and all you can talk about is money and fairy tales of eternal economic growth. How dare you?'

'The eyes of future generations are on you and if you choose to fail us I say we will never forgive you. We will not let you get away with this.'

The Swedish award committee said Thunberg 'tirelessly conveys her message: acknowledge the facts, realize the urgency of the climate crisis and act accordingly. She speaks at high-level conferences, meets world leaders, and gives guidance to a growing global movement.'

Created in 1980, the annual Right Livelihood Award honors efforts that the prize founder, Swedish-German philanthropist Jakob von Uexkull, felt were being ignored by the Nobel prizes.

The foundation also gave its 2019 award to Davi Kopenawa and the Hutukara Yanomami Association, representing Brazil's indigenous tribe, for protecting the Amazon forest and its people.

The other two winners were Moroccan activist Aminatou Haidar 'for her steadfast nonviolent action' for Western Sahara and Chinese lawyer Guo Jianmei for her work for women's rights in China.

The jury considered 142 nominations from 59 countries.