Former President Barack Obama met with Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg on Monday while the teen was visiting Washington, DC, to promote environmental awareness, CNN reported.
Thunberg, 16, met with Obama for a one-on-one meeting about combating climate change, which was then finished off with a pretty epic fist bump.
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Though she may be young, Thunberg has quickly made a name for herself by speaking up to governments about climate change.
Known for her bluntness, the teen first made headlines while staging weekly sit-ins outside of the Swedish Parliament.
Her protests sparked the #FridaysForFuture movement , which saw thousands of people all over the world protest their own respective governments after being inspired by the then-15-year-old.
That same year, Thunberg appeared at the United Nations COP24 Climate Summit in Poland.
There, she told assembled world leaders that they “have ignored us in the past, and you will ignore us again.”
“You say you love your children above all else,” she said, “and yet you are stealing their future in front of their very eyes.”
Most recently, Thunberg was invited to the United States to speak at the United Nations Climate Action Summit in New York.
When it came time to travel to the U.S., the teen opted not to take a plane from Sweden. In an effort to cut down on emissions, she spent two weeks sailing the Atlantic on a zero-emissions sailboat.
Her journey began from Plymouth, UK, on August 14 and concluded in New York on August 28.
The summit is set to take place on September 23, but Thunberg isn’t simply waiting around New York until then.
She’s kept busy with various appearances, such as on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, and receiving Amnesty International’s top award in Washington for her climate change activism.
On Monday, Thunberg met with Obama just days before she testified before a joint hearing of two House committees in Washington.
Video of the meeting, released by the Obama Foundation, shows the former president shaking hands with Thunberg as he tells her how pleased he is to meet her.
“You’re changing the world,” he says, “so we’re very excited to have you.”
Obama goes on to ask the teen about her experience participating in local climate change strikes.
“Everyone is so nice and all of these young people seem so eager, very enthusiastic which is a very good thing,” she replies with a smile.
Later, he tells Thunberg, “You and me, we’re a team.”
Obama spent much of his time in office making efforts to address environmental issues, whereas his successor, Trump, has attempted to remove many of those policy guardrails he implemented.
At the end of their meeting, Obama asks Thunberg if she believes in fist bumping, to which she replies that she does.
The pair then share an epic first bump, complete with customary after-explosion.
Monday evening, Trump tweeted about their interaction and called Thunberg “one of our planet’s greatest advocates.”
“Recognizing that her generation with bear the brunt of climate change, she’s unafraid to push for real action,” he wrote.
On Wedneday, Thunberg appeared in front of Congress and said she didn’t have any prepared remarks.
Instead, she submitted the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s special report on global warming, which reported a 1.5 degree Celsius temperature increase, as her testimony.
“I don’t want you to listen to me, I want you to listen to the scientists,” she said. “And I want you to unite behind the science. And then I want you to take real action.”
