An ice statue of Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg was unveiled in Trafalgar Square on Wednesday morning.
Created by Alissa Khan-Whelan, Chris Godfrey and CJ Brown, the statue was erected with the intention of it melting throughout the day.
The team explained that the melting statue, alongside a sign reading #GretaIceberg, was a “powerful representation of climate change and the plight the world is in”.
In an open letter to Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, the sculpture launch included a petition for a permanent statue of 16-year-old Greta to be put up in London.
The team said: “Greta Thunberg is a representation of youth and courage after successfully invigorating the climate debate that was failing to get the attention it deserved.
“We ask London to permanently assemble a (sustainable) statue of Greta Thunberg. The statue will exist as a permanent representation of youth, determination and courage, to inspire generations ahead to be fearless in the fight for positive change.
“This petition comes after a giant ice-statue of Greta Thunberg was erected in Trafalgar Square. The statue melted throughout the day as a powerful representation of climate change and the plight the world is in, unless change is made.”
The sculpture was created by Khan-Whelan, Godfrey and Brown, who gained fame as the team behind the viral Instagram Egg photo.
The photo, a stock image of an egg, set out to beat Kylie Jenner’s Instagram record of 18.3 million likes, and succeeded within 10 days.
It is now the most-liked image on Instagram, with 53 million likes in total.
