Climate activist Greta Thunberg burst into laughter after discovering that Fridays for Future, the environmental movement she founded, was still organizing protests.
Thunberg appeared surprised when she learned that she was filming a documentary on the same day the group was holding a demonstration in Berlin. She launched Fridays for Future in 2018, when she was 15.
“Is it?” she asked, apparently taken aback, before laughing loudly. “Really? They still do that?”
The unusual exchange was filmed for the documentary “On Tanks into the Climate Crisis: How Activism Is Criminalised.”
She and a friend continued laughing before Thunberg, now 23, called out, “Cut!”
Thunberg has recently attracted attention for joining a so-called freedom flotilla that attempted to deliver aid to Gaza.
Her laughter prompted criticism online, with some users arguing that it appeared to mock the young activists who continue the climate protests she helped launch.
“Greta is the OG LARPer, cosplaying a climate activist,” one person wrote on X.
“Climate was just the warm-up. Hating Israel is the real job,” another user posted.
Documentarian Hubertus Koch called the joke “right on the edge,” while continuing to praise Thunberg’s activism on climate change and the war in Gaza.
Fridays for Future began in August 2018, when the Swedish activist started missing school each Friday to protest outside the Swedish parliament.
The demonstrations quickly brought Thunberg international attention. She has continued campaigning on climate issues, including appearing at the COP31 climate summit in Turkey on Thursday.
