Dame Vivienne Westwood would welcome Greta Thunberg as leader of the world

The fashion designer has said that humanity faces extinction due to climate change.

She believes that teenage activist Thunberg has shone a light on the environmental emergency, and would be "great" if left in charge of the planet.

Dame Vivienne said that having the young Swedish environmentalist in power could offer an opportunity to tackle issues of recycling and carbon emissions.

Speaking to The Big Issue, she said: "If Greta was world controller it would be great.

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"And if I was her adviser, I'd say, 'The first thing you must do, Greta, is make it a rule that everyone has to reuse their glass bottle, then we can tackle plastic more easily'."

The fashion designer is deeply concerned about environmental threats, and has praised Thunberg and Extinction Rebellion for raising the alarm.

Dame Vivienne said that disaster is facing humanity, and action needs to be taken now.

She said: "We are making some progress, thanks to Greta and the school strikes and Extinction Rebellion.

"They've forced our Government to declare a climate crisis and set targets.

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"Having said that, we can't keep stalling. The targets used to be 2020, now they're 2050.

"It's always forever in the future. It's never here.

"But we're facing real problems right now, so we need to take action."

The full interview can be read in The Big Issue, out now.