Greta Thunberg wants to trademark her name

Last month Greta Thunberg applied to the EU intellectual property authority to trademark her name; the big student movement fighting against the climate emergency, Fridays For Future; the slogan Skolstrejk för klimatet (climate strike) that appears on the sign that has always accompanied the protests of the young Swedish girl. The first to report the news was the German weekly Die Zeit, on its online site, then came the confirmation of the activist who, in a long Instagram post, wrote:

I assure you, I and the other school strikers have absolutely no interests in trademarks. But unfortunately it needs to be done. Fridays For Future is a global movement founded by me. It belongs to anyone taking part in it, above all the young people. It can - and must - not be used for individual or commercial purposes.

Greta explained that this was "a necessary action" to protect herself and "our fight for the environment", and eventually take legal action if her name will be used purposes not in line with what the movement stands for. Speaking to her supporters, she points out that she and Fridays For Future are increasingly being used by third parties for "commercial purposes without any consent, with marketing, product sales, and people collecting money in my name and in the name of the movement.  And she apologizes to "to anyone who has been contacted - and even misled - by this kind of behavior".

She also announced that she and her family have created a non-profit foundation that will "promote ecological, climate and social sustainability". Greta specifies that although it has already been registered, the foundation is not yet up and running, but it was a required choice "for handling money (book royalties, donations, prize money etc) in a completely transparent way."

Greta's decision to "become a brand" is bound to provoke a lot of controversies, giving other reasons to the haters to discredit the activist's sincere commitment. Only time will reveal the truth, but it's undeniable that without her and Fridays For Future, climate issues would have not have been a priority. She was responsible for the fact that today everyone is beginning to understand how much they are affecting our lives, and thus encouraging many people to change their behavior towards sustainability.

Below you can read Greta's post.