Climate activist Greta Thunberg donates prize money to new foundation

LONDON, Feb 20 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Teen climate activist Greta Thunberg is using her prize money from an award known as the alternative Nobel to help set up a non-profit organization in her name "to promote ecological and social sustainability."

Thunberg, 17, who won the Right Livelihood Award in December, will use the 1 million Swedish crown ($100,000) prize to establish the Greta Thunberg Foundation in Sweden.

The Swedish teenager said in January that she was establishing a foundation to handle the money she gets from book royalties, donations and prizes.

"We are convinced that Thunberg's new foundation will have a great impact and empower much-needed change," Ole von Uexkuell, executive director of the Sweden-based Right Livelihood Foundation, said in a statement on Thursday.

Thunberg, who was this month again nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by two Swedish legislators, is among a growing list of people to dedicate funds to battling the impact of climate change, sparking discussions on the best use of this money.

Amazon's Jeff Bezos, the world's richest man, this week pledged $10 billion to fund scientists, activists, nonprofits and other groups fighting to protect the environment and counter the effects of climate change.

($1 = 9.8148 Swedish crowns)