Greta Thunberg, a young face in the fight against global warming, set sail for New York Wednesday aboard a zero-carbon racing yacht, skippered by a member of the Monegasque princely family.
The boat left the port of Plymouth (south of England) at 2 pm for a two-week crossing, which will allow the teenager to attend the UN world summit, scheduled for September in the US mega-city. .
Ready to face seasickness
The 16-year-old Swede, who initiated a worldwide school-based climate strike, refused to fly there because of the carbon emissions that the transport generates. As a result, Pierre Casiraghi, son of Princess Caroline of Monaco, provided a free boat for 3,000 nautical miles, skippered with German Boris Herrmann.
Greta Thunberg departures Plymouth, onboard the Malizia II, a solar-powered racing yacht, bound for a climate conference in New York http://t.co/LyP4G7kjAApic.twitter.com/I6DnBrSzJe
- BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) August 14, 2019The trip promises to be difficult for the novice Greta Thunberg, but she said she was ready to face seasickness and lack of comfort. "I'm one of the few people in the world who can do that, so I had to take the opportunity," she told the press shortly before the start, dressed in the black outfit of the boat crew.