Penelope Lea is a Norwegian climate activist who became the second-youngest ambassador for UNICEF at the age of 15.[1]
Penelope Lea | |
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Born | |
Known for | Environmentalism, climate change mitigation |
Lea is from Kjelsås, Oslo. Her mother is a children's book writer.[2] When she was eight, Lea joined the Eco-Agents, a youth climate group. She gave her first speech aged nine at a Nature and Youth national camp.[3] She was elected as a board member of the Eco-Agents when she was 11.[1] At twelve, Lea was one of seven people to join the Children's Climate Panel, founded by the Eco-Agents.[3]
In 2018, Lea became the youngest nominee for the Frivillighetsprisen[3] She won the award and donated the NKr 50,000 (US$6,000 in 2019) prize to a lawsuit filed jointly by Greenpeace and Nature and Youth against the Norwegian government for its oil contracts.[4]
(Volunteer Award), at the age of fourteen.In 2019, Lea became a climate advisor to Knut Storberget and was a youth ambassador for Norway at the UNICEF summit for World Children's Day.[5][6] In October 2019, Lea became the first climate ambassador for UNICEF; her age of 15 made her the second-youngest UNICEF ambassador in history.[1][7][8] She was the fifth Norwegian ambassador and the first to be appointed since 2007.[9] At the 2019 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP25), Lea was one of five child activists to speak at an event organized by UNICEF and the OHCHR.[10]