Greta Thunberg speaks during an event.

Gulf Today Report

Teen climate-change fighter Greta Thunberg has called out Chinese state media after an article attempted to “fat-shame” her for being a vegetarian.

In an article published last week in the “China Daily,” an outlet owned by the ruling Communist Party, Ms Thunberg was mocked for her weight and called an “environmental princess”.

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“Although she claims to be vegetarian, judging from the results of her growth, her carbon emissions are actually not low,” the article stated, which was written by writer Tang Ge, who initially posted the opinion on social media.

The article did not go unnoticed by the young climate activist, who shared a link to a report about the incident on her Twitter on Friday.

“Being fat-shamed by Chinese state owned media is a pretty weird experience even by my standards. But it’s definitely going on my resume,” she wrote.

The article facing scrutiny was widely shared in Chinese media, with some accusing Ms Thunberg of having a “double standard” when she previously called out China’s environmental footprint but not other countries.

Earlier this month, Ms Thunberg shared an article that revealed China’s annual emissions were greater than those of all developed nations combined in 2019. Although China was still considered a developing nation, Ms Thunberg thought drastic action was needed to address the issue.

“Yes, China is still categorized as a developing nation by WTO, they manufacture a lot of our products and so on. But that’s of course no excuse for ruining future and present living conditions. We can’t solve the climate crisis unless China drastically changes course,” she wrote at the time.

Ms Thunberg went on to add that the world should “look at historic emissions and in context to population and emissions per capita. And developed nation[s] must lead so others can raise their living standards,” while including a video showing the United States far leading cumulative emissions since 1750.

The activist has been critical of other nations and world leaders for their role in the climate crisis and global emissions.

Swedish climate activist Thunberg first attracted attention when she started her one-person protest outside the Swedish parliament in 2018, and she has since risen to international renown, taking center stage at the United Nations, the Global Economic Forum in Davos and elsewhere.