Matilde Alvim
Matilde Alvim is a Portuguese environmental activist, one of those responsible for organizing the student climate strikes (Fridays for Future) in Portugal that were inspired by the activities of the Swedish activist Greta Thunberg. Biography Alvim comes from the parish of Quinta do Anjo, which is part of Palmela, in the Setúbal District of Portugal, south of the capital of Lisbon and close to the Arrábida Natural Park. A student at the Palmela Secondary School when the student protests began, she is now an anthropology student in the Faculty of Social and Human Sciences of the NOVA University Lisbon. Activism She was inspired by environmental issues from a young age, remembering being strongly affected by a newspaper article about the Great Pacific garbage patch. This made her realise that environmental problems, especially the climate crisis, cannot be solved by individual action alone and that there is a need to go to the source of the problem. In particular, she has blamed the fossil-fuel industry, which, she has argued, has invested in disinformation and lobbying campaigns to influence governments not to adhere to international emissions-reduction commitments. She argues that the world has to reach carbon neutrality by 2030, rather than 2050,