Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg has avoided jail despite being found guilty of disobeying cops.

Thunberg and other activists were detained after they stopped traffic in the oil terminal of the port in Malmö, southern Sweden, on June 19.

The 20-year-old appeared at Malmö District Court after 11am (9am GMT) this morning. The activist ‘took part in a demonstration that disrupted traffic’ and ‘refused to obey police orders to leave the site’, according to the charge sheet.

Thunberg, who inspired a global youth movement demanding stronger efforts to fight climate change, was found guilty and fined today but said she had acted out of necessity.

‘My actions are justifiable,’ Thunberg told the court, according to the Sydsvenskan newspaper. ‘I believe that we are in an emergency that threatens life, health and property. Countless people and communities are at risk both in the short term and in the long term.’