Teenage Swedish environmentalist Greta Thunberg who took the internet by storm with her stirring UN Climate Change Summit speech, got a pat from actor Priyanka Chopra Jonas who thanked her for the "much-needed punch in the face".

"Thank you, Greta Thunberg, for giving us the much-needed punch in the face, for bringing your generation together and showing us that we need to know better, do more to save what is most critical," the 37-year old tweeted. She ended her note by saying, "At the end of the day, we only have this one planet."

Greta, become the global face of the growing youth movement against climate inaction and is on a year off from her studies to spread awareness about climate change.

The 16-year old on Monday began her speech by telling her audience amusingly, "My message is that we will be watching you."

In her speech, the activist also addressed the pressing issue of the dangerous global heating across the world, saying, "I shouldn't be here. I should have been back at school, on the other side of the ocean. Yet you all come to us young people for hope. How dare you?"

"For more than 30 years, the signs have been crystal clear. How dare you continue to look away and come here saying that you are doing enough when the politics and the solution needed are still nowhere in sight," she added.

Thunberg has been protesting outside the Swedish Parliament every Friday since August 2018 against inaction over climate change.

The Climate Change summit was hosted by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to give a boost to the 2015 Paris Agreement and address the global climate emergency.