The Foundation and its Mission

The Greta Thunberg Foundation works to support sustainability from a holistic perspective, promoting ecological, climatic and social sustainability.

The Foundation was founded in 2019 to create a transparent way of distributing funds from awards, royalties or donations linked to the Foundation’s activities and Greta’s activism to organisations and movements working for a just and sustainable world. The mission of the Foundation is to work globally for a sustainable climate, a socially sustainable society, a good environment, preservation of biodiversity, human rights and animal rights in the long term. The mission has been shaped to ensure it is aligned with Greta’s values.

However, the sustainability crisis cannot be solved with money alone. To support the mission of the Foundation, we recommend that you inform yourself about the crisis and get involved in advocating for real climate action and system change. You can also support the mission of the Foundation by donating directly to the organisations and groups doing work in line with the Foundation’s mission. By way of example, here are some of the Foundation’s latest donations.

The Foundation is independent and without political and religious ties. It was founded by Greta’s parents Malena Ernman and Svante Thunberg - as Greta was a minor at the time - and it is registered in Stockholm, Sweden.

Lina Burnelius, chair of the board, is a project leader and International coordinator for Protect the Forest Sweden. She is a sustainability expert with experience in global sustainable development implementation and policy. Lina has been coordinating processes and programs locally and globally for environmental and sustainability issues to enable ‘glocal’ sustainability.

Thomas Maddens, member of the board, is a documentary filmmaker and human rights activist, with many years of experience documenting stories of genocide, climate justice and reproductive rights. His film work has changed laws, highlighted forgotten humanitarian emergencies and brought mass-awareness to the polycrises of our times. He co-founded A Mad Production, based in Ghent, Belgium.

Erika Jangen, member of the board, has a background in law, and has spent most of her career working on European Union legislation and in the fields of human rights, democracy, environmental and sustainability issues both in the public and private sectors.

Dr. Jason Hickel, advisor to the board, is an economic anthropologist, author, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. He is Professor at the Institute for Environmental Science and Technology at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, Visiting Senior Fellow at the International Inequalities Institute at the London School of Economics, and Chair Professor of Global Justice and the Environment at the University of Oslo. Jason’s research focuses on global political economy, inequality, and ecological economics.

Paulina von Euler and Henning Isoz, have had an important advisory role in the creation of the foundation. Paulina von Euler is the Founder and CEO at von Euler & Partners in Stockholm, a family office that has advised foundations since 2002. Henning Isoz has a background in the Swedish Ministry of Justice since the beginning of the 1980s, where he wrote the basis for the Swedish law on foundations. He has since been primarily engaged in legal matters relating to foundation law.

The board and the advisors volunteer their time, experience and expertise to this charity.

You can reach the Foundation’s board via [email protected].

The Foundation’s auditor and accountant is Revisionsgruppen.