Climate activist Thunberg to join zero-emissions transatlantic voyage
Greta Thunberg, a 16-year-old Swedish girl who inspired tens of thousands of people to join a climate march last year, has begun a world tour that will entail crossing the Atlantic Ocean on a zero-emissions racing yacht.
She posted on Twitter on Saturday a photo of herself standing next to a train in Sweden saying she is "on the morning train to New York and Santiago de Chile".
Her first stop is Switzerland, where she will meet hundreds of climate activists from 37 countries at the "Fridays for Future" European summit in Lausanne during Aug 5-9. It was a movement, also known as "school strike for the climate", that spurred her to begin protesting outside the Swedish parliament in August last year demanding immediate action to fight climate change.
Thunberg will then travel to the United Kingdom to join German sailor Boris Herrmann and Pierre Casiraghi of Monaco aboard their emissions-free racing boat Malizia II to cross the Atlantic.
In the United States, she plans to attend the United Nations Climate Action session in New York on Sept 23 on the sidelines of the annual UN General Assembly meeting, as well as climate protests planned for Sept 20-27.
US President Donald Trump in June 2017 announced the withdrawal the US from the landmark 2015 Paris climate accord, dealing a heavy blow to the global cause to urgently reduce carbon emissions, a warning given by many scientists.
Thunberg also plans to visit Canada and Mexico before joining the annual UN Climate Change Conference (COP 25) to be held in Santiago, Chile, on Dec 2-13.
"We are looking forward to seeing you and many other young people at the #ClimateAction Summit, @gretathunberg! Your generation has grasped the urgency of the climate crisis better than many others - it's time we listen," UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, a passionate climate change fighter himself, replied last week on Twitter to Thunberg's trip announcement.
According to the German news agency dpa, Thunberg was offered a ride on the 18.3-meter racing yacht to be captained by Herrmann and Casiraghi.
Her father, Svante Thunberg, and filmmaker Nathan Grossman, who will document the trip, will also be aboard on the transatlantic voyage.
"I feel humbled that Greta accepted our offer as the lowest-carbon option to cross the Atlantic - despite the lack of comfort for her," Herrmann said in a statement.
The racing boat is "outfitted with solar panels and underwater turbines to allow for a zero-carbon, trans-Atlantic voyage," said the statement.
Thunberg announced in June she would take a year off school to focus on the fight against climate change. She has sparked a climate movement in Europe and beyond. She has spoken at the COP24 in Poland in December, the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in January and the European Parliament in April.
The climate activist was nominated in March as a candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize.
chenweihua@chinadaily.com.cn
(China Daily 08/06/2019 page11)
