Stockholm, 18 August 2023 (dpa/MIA) - Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg called on activists to ramp up the pressure in the fight against the climate crisis, as she marks five years since her first school strike which ignited a global movement.

"Even if we've shown time and time again that we're millions around the world who demand change, the world isn't moving in the right direction," the 20-year-old told millions of her social media followers on Friday.

Thunberg, who was 15 when she first left school to sit in front of Sweden's parliament, said we are approaching planetary tipping points faster than previously expected.

"We must keep up the pressure and not let the people in power get away with sacrificing people and the planet for the sake of profits and greed," she wrote.

"We desperately need radical climate action to save what can still be saved and limit as much as possible of the disastrous effects of the climate crisis that people are already experiencing," the young Swede said.

She called on the Fridays for Future climate movement to exert more pressure on world leaders.

Thunberg first sat down in front of the parliament in Stockholm on August 20, 2018, five years ago on Sunday, to demand more climate action from political leaders.

Within a few months, her individual action spread into an international movement known as Fridays for Future, which sees thousands upon thousands of mostly young people around the world demonstrating for more effective climate policy.

Thunberg graduated from school this summer but continues to protest every Friday, 261 weeks later.

Photo: archive