Greta Thunberg leads climate march in Montreal: ‘We’ve become too loud for people to handle’

Organisers claim some 500,000 people were on the streets

Swedish activist and student Greta Thunberg, centre, takes part in the Climate Strike in Montreal on Friday 27 September (AP)

Greta Thunberg has marched alongside an estimated 500,000 people at a global climate strike demonstration in Montreal, telling protesters she did not understand why adults mock children for campaigning against global warming.

Donald Trump had taken aim at the teenager earlier this week, tweeting sarcastically: “She seems like a very happy young girl looking forward to a bright and wonderful future. So nice to see!”

Mr Trump's favourite TV network, Fox News, was forced to apologise to the teenager after one of its guests suggested she was mentally unwell. And on Friday Bernard Arnault, the richest man in Europe, claimed the 16-year-old's efforts were "demoralising" for young people.

Asked about the criticism, Greta said: “We’ve become too loud for people to handle so people want to silence us. We should also take that as a compliment.”

The Swedish climate activist did not address Mr Trump by name but told protesters she did not ”understand why grown-ups would choose to mock children and teenagers for just communicating and acting on the science when they could do something good instead”.

“We’re at least 500,000 here today – you should be very proud of yourself,” the teenager told the Montreal crowds, to cheers.

“We have done this together and I can’t thank you enough for being here. It’s just incredible to be united in such a way for a common cause. It just feels great, doesn’t it?”

Greta was joined in Montreal by aboriginal Canadians, a group she described as “often the ones who are at the front line” of global warming.

She also met with Justin Trudeau, the Canadian leader, privately for around 15 minutes. “He is of course obviously not doing enough but... this is such a huge problem,” she said.

“My message to all the politicians is the same, to just listen to the science, act on the science.”

Greta began her activism a year ago, by protesting alone outside the Swedish parliament. Her campaign has since galvanised thousands of schoolchildren to take part in protests demanding action to save the environment.

Students conducted a second wave of global protests on Friday, with tens of thousands taking to the streets in New Zealand.

Additional reporting by agencies