The crew of the sailboat crossing the Atlantic to transport Greta Thunberg to New York Sunday ensured that the carbon emissions related to its displacement would all be compensated, in response to a controversy around the conditions for the return of the ship in Europe.
The Swedish teenager, behind a global climate movement, left on August 15 with her father aboard a zero-carbon racing yacht, the Malizia II, to attend the World Summit on Climate Change. the UN in New York by avoiding the use of aircraft, a means of transport that is much more polluting.
Four people will bring the boat back to Sweden
But a spokesman for the German navigator Boris Herrmann - who skippers the boat with a member of the Monegasque princely family - told the Berlin newspaper TAZ that several people would fly to New York to bring the boat back to Europe after the crossing of Greta, and that Boris Herrmann would also return by air. The paper deduced that the journey of the Thunberg boat would ultimately be more polluting than if they had flown, a conclusion widely resumed on social networks, where the young face pro-climate has many critics.
"We planned this trip to New York at the last minute, and as a result two people will have to fly to New York to bring the boat back," said Holly Cova, head of the Malizia team, in a statement. transmitted by the entourage of Greta Thunberg. "In all, four crew members will bring the boat back, these are logistical decisions that have been taken only by the Malizia team," she said, adding that "all the flights of the team are compensated "even if" we recognize that this solution is imperfect ".
"Offsetting your emissions is better than doing nothing"
"The world has not yet found a way to cross an ocean without leaving a carbon footprint," added Holly Cova. "We think that offsetting its emissions is better than doing nothing and hope that this trip with which we accompany Greta will help raise awareness on this important subject".
Prior to the UN summit on 23 September, Greta Thunberg, who took a sabbatical year, will attend many climate meetings. She also plans to travel to Canada, Mexico and Chile for another UN conference in December.