Greta Thunberg's speech to the French parliament yesterday was snubbed by right-wing politicians who ridiculed the 16-year-old environmentalist as 'the Justin Bieber of ecology'.
Members of the Republican and National Rally parties boycotted the eco-activist's plea for lawmakers to swing behind her climate campaign and instead branded her a doomsayer.
Guillaume Larrive, of the conservative Republicans, described her as an 'apocalyptic guru'.
And National Rally lawmaker Sébastien Chenu made a swipe at the teenager's age by comparing her to singer Bieber, who shot to fame as a child.
But during her address to the lower chamber of the National Assembly in Paris, Thunberg scolded her critics.
She said: 'Some people have chosen not to come here today. some people have chosen not to listen to us.
'And that is fine, we are after all just children. You do not have to listen to us.
'But you do have to listen to the united science, the scientists. And that is all we ask. Unite behind the science.'
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On Sunday, Thunberg was awarded France's freedom prize for her environmental activism which inspired a series school strikes that saw children walk out of class and protest on the streets.
French politicians invited her and other children into the country's parliament yesterday to meet with MPs and discuss the so-called climate emergency.
But her appearance was not welcomed by conservatives, including Republican Julian Aubert who mocked the teenager.
He said: 'Don't count on me to applaud a prophetess in shorts, a Nobel Prize for Fear.'
But some lawmakers jumped to Thunberg's defence and hit out at their colleagues mocking her.
Delphine Batho, head of the Generation Ecology party, said: 'Larrive and Aubert are playing an internal game on the back of the battle against climate change.'
The schoolgirl rose to intentional prominence by demonstrating outside the Swedish parliament every Friday.
She was the star speaker at Extinction Rebellion's 10-day rally in London in April.
This article has been adapted from its original source.
