Climate activist Greta Thunberg on Sunday urged people to recognize “the link between climate and ecological emergency and mass migration, famine, and war” as she was given the first “Freedom Prize” from France’s Normandy region for her ongoing school strikes for climate and role in catalyzing the Fridays for future climate movement.

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The 16-year-old received the award before a crowd of roughly 2,000 people in the city of Caen. She shared the stage with D-Day veterans and prize sponsors Léon Gautier of France et Charles Norman Shay of the U.S.

“I think the least we can do to honor them,” said Thunberg, “is to stop destroying that same world that Charles, Leon, and their friends and colleagues fought so hard to save.”

Thunberg spent the day before the award ceremony with Shay:

On Twitter, Thunberg also highlighted some of Shay’s remarks during Sunday’s ceremony, calling them “the most powerful words on the climate and ecological emergency I’ve ever heard.”

“All these many damages on Mother Nature make me sad,” said Shay. “As a soldier I fought for freedom to liberate Europe [and the] world [from] Nazism 75 yeas ago, but this is no sense if Mother Nature is deeply wounded, and if our civilization collapses due to inappropriate human behaviors.”

Agence France-Presse reported on Thunberg’s remarks at the ceremony:

Thunberg beat out two other finalists, Saudi blogger and dissident Raif Badawi and Chinese photojournalist Lu Guang, to become the winner.

The Freedom Prize website offers this background of the new award:

Thunberg, responding to a recent question from one of the readers of the U.K’s Observer, made clear that her commitment to the fight for urgent climate action is unwavering.

“We must never give up,” she said. “I have made up my mind and decided to never, ever give up.”