Campaigner Greta Thunberg to sail to US to promote climate change message

Campaigner Greta Thunberg to sail to US to promote climate change message

Greta Thunberg, the Swedish teenager whose social media-savvy brand of eco-activism has inspired tens of thousands of students in Europe to miss lessons and protest for faster action against climate change, has revealed she plans to take her message to America the old-fashioned way: by boat.

The 16-year-old tweeted that she will sail across the Atlantic aboard a high-tech racing yacht, leaving Britain next month to attend UN climate summits in New York in September and Santiago, Chile, in December.

Greta said ahead of her announcement that she spent months trying to work out how to travel to the US without using planes, which she has long shunned because of their high greenhouse gas emissions.

Cruise ships are also notoriously big polluters, while sailors rarely brave the Atlantic in August because of hurricane risks.

“Taking a boat to North America is basically impossible,” she said in an interview during her weekly Fridays For Future protest outside the Swedish parliament in Stockholm.

“I have had countless people helping me, trying to contact different boats.”

Greta plans to take a year off from school to keep raising awareness of climate change and pressuring world leaders to step up efforts to curb global warming.

Extinction Rebellion protests
Greta at the House of Commons (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

She also met with Pope Francis, who praised Greta’s efforts and encouraged her to continue campaigning.

Although little-known in the United States, Greta has arguably become the figurehead for a new generation of European eco-activists worried that they will suffer the fallout from their parents’ and grandparents’ unwillingness to take strong actions to combat climate change.

“This past year, my life has turned upside down,” Greta said.

“Every day is an adventure, basically. Sometimes I have to pinch myself and say ‘Is this really real? Has this actually been happening?’

“Because it has all happened so fast and it’s hard to keep up with everything.

“In a way, I am more optimistic, because people are slowly waking up and people are becoming more aware of the situation.

“This whole Fridays For Future movement is very hopeful,” she said.

“But also … one year has passed and still almost nothing has happened.”

Greta has spearheaded a change in the climate debate in Europe largely because her activism resonated with so many children, said Greenpeace Germany executive director Martin Kaiser.

“She has read all the science,” he said. “That gives her a lot of credibility.

“She has motivated a whole generation in Europe to learn about climate change.”

Climate change protest
Students take part in a global school strike for climate change in Canterbury, Kent (Gareth Fuller/PA)

“I don’t care about hate and threats from climate crisis deniers,” she said.

“I just ignore them.”

Greta said she was unsure how her message will be received in the United States, where there is broad opposition to the kind of radical measures scientists say are required to limit global warming to 1.5C (2.7F) by the end of the century compared with pre-industrial times.

“I will just try to go on as I have before,” the young Swede said.

“Just always refer to the science and we’ll just see what happens.”

Greta would not rule out meeting with President Donald Trump, who wants the US to withdraw from the landmark 2015 Paris climate accord, but appeared doubtful such an encounter would happen because she thinks it would be “just a waste of time”.

Climate change protest
Students take part in a global school strike for climate change in Edinburgh (Jane Barlow/PA)

“As it looks now, I don’t think so, because I have nothing to say to him,” she said.

“He obviously doesn’t listen to the science and the scientists.

“So why should I, a child with no proper education, be able to convince him?”

Aside from attending a summit hosted by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on the sidelines of the global body’s annual assembly on September 23, Greta plans to take part in several climate protests in New York.

The British band The 1975s has released an album with a short essay by Greta set to music.

It ends with her declaring “it is now time for civil disobedience. It is time to rebel.”

Greta stressed that she rejects violence, citing her school strikes for climate as the kind of action she backs.

Last week she deleted a tweet showing her wearing a T-shirt with the slogan “Antifascist All Stars”, after some accused her of supporting far-left extremists.

“You can rebel in different ways,” she said.

“Civil disobedience is rebelling. As long as it’s peaceful, of course.”

After New York, Greta intends to travel to the annual UN climate conference in December, held in Chile this year, with stops in Canada, Mexico and other countries along the way, travelling by train and bus.

The yacht she will be crossing the Atlantic with is a far cry from the Viking ships that first brought Scandinavians to America.

The 60-foot Malizia II is fitted with solar panels and underwater turbines to generate zero-carbon electricity on board.

Greta will also be accompanied on the two-week journey by a filmmaker, her father Svante and Pierre Casiraghi, the grandson of Monaco’s late Prince Rainier III and American actress Grace Kelly.

“I haven’t experienced anything like this before,” Greta said, a giggle breaking her normally serious demeanour.

“I think this will be a trip to remember.”

Greta will be setting a very high bar for the activists and leaders from outside the Americas who are attending the UN climate conferences, almost all of whom will likely be coming by plane.

“I’m not saying that people should stop flying,” she said. “I’m just saying it needs to be easier to be climate neutral.”

– Advertisement –
– Advertisement –