Greta Thunberg at Sea on Her Way to UN Conference

Posted on by August 15, 2019

On Wednesday, 16-year-old Swedish climate activist, Greta Thunberg, set sail from Plymouth, England on a racing yacht bound for New York. She is traveling to participate in United Nations climate talks in September, and she refuses to fly because aviation has such an enormous carbon footprint.

She is sailing on Malizia II, an IMOCA 60-foot foiling monohull with solar panels and hydro-generators, resulting in a nearly zero carbon footprint. On Day 2 of the voyage, they are roughly 100 nautical miles west of Cape Finisterre. The voyage is expected to take about two weeks. The trip may be uncomfortable as the boat has a bucket for a toilet, no real galley, and no privacy.

In August 2018, Greta Thunberg, then age 15, left school to begin protesting outside the Swedish parliament about the need for immediate action to combat climate change. Her actions grew into a worldwide movement, the school strike for climate. By March 2019, an estimated 1.4 million students in 112 countries around the world joined her call in striking and protesting for action on climate change.

Thanks to Alan Rice, David Rye, and Walter Scott for contributing to this post.

Comments

Greta Thunberg at Sea on Her Way to UN Conference — 14 Comments

  3. Thank you for reporting on this Rick, something has to be done and cannot be dodged. See latest reports regarding glaciers and icebergs in the Arctic and Antarctic and plastic being found in snow. Please see:
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-49295051
    I love Greta’s direct reply when asked “You raise all the questions but do not provide any answers?” “Yes we children and teenagers do but its up to you grownups to find the answers.” No doubt ‘some’ believe all this is fake news.

  4. Micro-plastic now found on rain!
    Look it up in today’s news, we’re breathing it in!

  5. It took oil products to build her sailboat!
    Think about it!
    Oil products are used in our medicine!

  6. This very thoughtful young lady has got real guts and, despite threats at some of her appearances, she’s willing to stand up for what she believes in. Yes, the boat is made from petroleum but there is far less carbon footprint in this mode of transportation (and she IS making a vital point) than in a jet plane! Give her a break and frankly, I think that she should get some major credit, not to mention some major prizes. Who among us would do a similar trip to make such a statement? And yes, I have sailed across the Atlantic on a small sail boat, and I no longer fly. I do take the train for long distances.

  7. It is the unnecessary and single use of plastics that need to be addressed, and similarly we should consider whether our air travel journey has no viable alternative. She is going the uncomfortable way to increase awareness that mankind’s existence on planet earth is finite.

  8. Sailing, Skype, teleconference, telephone, email, write a letter…
    -Warren Buffett streams his annual Berkshire Hathaway meetings..
    our Greta won’t fly……
    Thank you Greta!

  9. Every time I read about someone trying to do something about global warming I applaud their dedication. But as with the many brilliant programmes by David Attenborough showing mountains of plastic waste on shore and the horrific pollution of our seas and now our air, snow and Arctic ice the whole essence of the ’cause’ is missed and this is the massive population growth which increases demand for all things plastic. The answer is to stop or reduce population growth but how I just don’t know!!

  10. Captain David, They could go and kill off a lot of people, but who and whom chooses who is to die.

  11. I applaud Greta’s stance in her refusal to fly because of the “,enormous carbon footprint” but, it sounds like two crewmen will be flying to the U.S. to bring the boat back to Europe and possibly two crewman sailing with Greata will be flying back to Europe.
    If that story holds true, there will be four carbon footprints in the sky, rather than one.

  12. The owners of the teams yacht MALIZIA are flying yes flying two crew out to the States to make the return sail back to Europe all is not as it seems I am afraid.

  13. “You can get a lot of work done if you stay with it and are excited and its play instead of work.”
    ― Joseph Campbell, The Hero’s Journey: Joseph Campbell on His Life & Work..
    ..and there is nothing that is a better teacher of being in the moment than sailing, especially on such a hot rod!

    Just wanted let you know the great respect I have for Greta, Pierre Casiraghi and Boris Herrmann, Svante Thunberg and filmmaker Nathan Grossman!

    Greta is leading by example, and that is the best way to educate people. YOUR voice, Greta, is so eloquent and so needed. 💚 & ☮️ on 🌎!