STOCKHOLM: Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg on Wednesday won the Right Livelihood Award, sometimes called the "alternative Nobel Prize", the jury for the Swedish human rights prize said.

Thunberg was honoured "for inspiring and amplifying political demands for urgent climate action reflecting scientific facts," the Right Livelihood Foundation said in a statement.

Thunberg's global climate movement "Fridays for Future" began in August 2018 when she started sitting alone outside Sweden's parliament with her now iconic sign reading "school strike for the climate".

The message has struck a chord with youths around the world. Last Friday, an estimated four million plus people took to the streets in over 150 countries to join the "Global Climate Strike" protest, demanding action from politicians against climate disaster.

The Right Livelihood Award was created in 1980 after the Nobel Foundation behind the Nobel Prizes refused to create awards honouring efforts in the fields of the environment and international development.

The award consists of a cash prize of one million Swedish kronor ($103,000 or 94,000 euro) for each laureate, meant to support the recipient's work.