Greta Thunberg's father Svante worries about the 'hate' his daughter faces and says he turned vegan to 'save his child'

Greta Thunberg's father has told how climate change activism helped his daughter battle depression, but that he worries about the impact of the “hate” she faces.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme, of which his daughter is guest-editor today, Svante Thunberg said the 16-year-old had become "very happy" as a result of her work despite facing regular abuse from people who "don't want to change” their lifestyles.

In a candid interview with host Mishal Husain, Mr Thunberg, 50, said his daughter had struggled with depression for "three or four years" before she began her ‘School Strike for Climate’ movement in 2018.

"She stopped talking, she stopped going to school," he said, adding that he and his wife confronted the "ultimate nightmare for a parent" when Greta began refusing to eat.

Svante Thunberg spoke to the BBC's Mishal Husain
AFP via Getty Images

To help her get better, the 50-year-old actor and his wife Malena Ernman cancelled work to spend more time with Greta and her younger sister, Beata, at their home in Sweden.

Together, they began discussing and researching climate change, as Greta became increasingly passionate about tackling the issue.

Mr Thunberg said his daughter accused her parents of being "huge hypocrites" for actively campaigning for human rights but not the environment.

"Greta said: 'Whose human rights are you standing up for?', since we were not taking this climate issue seriously," he told the BBC.

Greta Thunberg - In pictures

Climate activist Greta Thunberg attends a protest ahead of the UN Climate Conference, in London
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The teenager was “energised” by her parents’ gradual change in behaviour to become more environmentally friendly - including her mother’s decision to no longer travel by plane and Mr Thunberg’s conversion to veganism, he explained.

Mr Thunberg said: "I did all these things, I knew they were the right thing to do... but I didn't do it to save the climate, I did it to save my child.

"I have two daughters and, to be honest, they are all that matters to me. I just want them to be happy," he added.

Mr Thunberg said Greta has "changed" and become "very happy" as a result of her activism.

"You think she's not ordinary now because she's special, and she's very famous, and all these things. But to me she's now an ordinary child - she can do all the things like other people can," he said.

"She dances around, she laughs a lot, we have a lot of fun - and she's in a very good place."

However, since Greta's Friday school strikes gained international recognition, Mr Thunberg said she has faced abuse from people who "don't want to change" their lifestyles in order to save the environment.

He said he was particularly worried about "the fake news, all the things that people try to fabricate her - the hate that that generates".

But he admitted his daughter deals with the criticism "incredibly well", adding: "Quite frankly, I don't know how she does it, but she laughs most of the time. She finds it hilarious."

Mr Thunberg said he hoped things would become "less intense" for his family in the future and that he thinks Greta "really wants to go back to school".

Greta Thunberg, 16, and father Svante who accompanied her on a 15-day Atlantic crossing to New York in August
AFP via Getty Images

Greta is among five high-profile people taking over the Today programme as guest editors during the festive period.

As part of the same broadcast, she recorded a Skype conversation with Sir David Attenborough, who told her she had "woken up the world" to climate change.

The documentary filmmaker told Greta she had "achieved things that many of us who have been working on the issue for 20 years have failed to do".

He added that the 16-year-old was the "only reason" that climate change became a key topic in the recent UK general election.

Greta was nominated for this year's Nobel Peace Prize, after spearheading a global movement demanding world leaders take action over climate change, and named Time magazine’s person of the year 2019.

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