After three weeks of sailing across the Atlantic Ocean to attend the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Spain, teen climate activist Greta Thunberg arrived Tuesday in neighboring Portugal, where she was welcomed by an enthusiastic crowd of supporters.
“We’ve all been on quite an adventure,” the 16-year-old Swede told reporters in Lisbon shortly after her arrival. Thunberg has gained global recognition for her solitary protests for climate action outside the Swedish Parliament last year, which led to an international youth-led school strike movement known as Fridays for Future.
In August, Thunberg—who refuses to travel by plane—sailed from the United Kingdom to the United States for a U.N. summit in New York City. She also toured North America, addressing members of the U.S. Congress, joining major protests, and meeting with climate activists. After the U.N. conference, COP 25, was moved from Chile to Spain, she turned to social media to find a low-carbon way to get to Madrid.
Thunberg’s call for travel assistance was answered by the owners and crew of La Vagabonde, a white 48-foot catamaran that uses solar panels and hydro-generators for power. The teenager and her father Svante joined professional sailor Nikki Henderson as well as yacht owners Riley Whitelum and Elayna Carausu and their baby for the three-week journey.
“I’m doing this to sort of send the message that it is impossible to live sustainable today, and that needs to change. It needs to become much easier.”
—Greta Thunberg, climate activist
“I am not traveling like this because I want everyone to do so,” Thunberg explained to reporters Tuesday. “I’m doing this to sort of send the message that it is impossible to live sustainable today, and that needs to change. It needs to become much easier.”
The Associated Press reported that Thunberg will spend several days in the Portuguese capital before she heads to COP 25, where representatives from governments across the globe are discussing efforts to battle the climate crisis, including national commitments under the 2015 Paris agreement.
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