Section:GDN 1N PaGe:3 Edition Date:190829 Edition:01 Zone: Sent at 28/8/2019 21:52 cYanmaGentaYellowbl
3Thursday 29 Aug ust 2019 The Guardian •
News
Oliver Milman New York
Agencies
Greta Thunberg reached New York
yesterday, after crossing the Atlantic
in a zero-carbon yacht.
Crowds gathered in New York hours
before she was due to step ashore,
ready to welcome Thunberg upon her
arrival on the unconventional, solar-
powered craft.
Under cloudy skies at a marina near
the southern tip of Manhattan, Thun-
berg’s supporters assembled to greet
the teenager who sparked a series of
walkouts by students worldwide pro-
testing against the lack of action to
address the climate crisis.
Addressing a press conference after
landing, her fi rst words were: “Well,
all of this is very overwhelming.” She
added that, having just got off the boat:
“The ground is still shaking.”
She urged people to come together
to tackle the climate crisis: “We need to
stand together and take action because
otherwise it might be too late. Let’s not
wait any longer, let’s do it now.”
Thunberg said it was “insane that
a 16-year-old would have to cross the
Atlantic to take a stand” but stressed
that it had been a necessary journey
for her.
However she had not found it
unpleasant: “The trip was surpris-
ingly good. I did not feel seasick once.”
After admitting that she was looking
forward to a wash and rest, she talked
of what she’ll miss about being out
in the Atlantic “sitting for hours and
staring at the ocean, doing nothing,
I’m going to miss that a lot. To see the
beauty of it, that I’m also going to miss.
Peace and quiet.”
Thunberg told the press confer-
ence that even while she was out in the
middle of the Atlantic she had heard
about the fi res raging in the Amazo-
nian rainforest, mostly in Brazil. “It’s
devastating,” she said. “It’s so horrible.
It’s hard to imagine. The war against
nature must end.”
Asked about the US president, she
responded: “Everyone always asks me
about Donald Trump. I say, ‘Listen to
the science’ and he obviously does not
do that. If no one has been able to con-
vince him about the climate crisis and
the urgency, why would I be able to?”
Thunberg sailed to New York to
attend a UN summit on zero emis-
sions next month after refusing to fl y
there because of the carbon emissions
caused by planes.
She was off ered a ride on the Malizia
II racing yacht, skippered by Pierre
Casiraghi, the son of Princess Caroline
of Monaco, and the German round-
the-world sailor Boris Herrmann.
The 18-metre yacht features solar
panels on its deck and hull, and two
hydro-generators provide the vessel’s
electricity.
The 16-year-old, whose school
strikes have inspired children across
the world to protest against the climate
crisis, has encountered some rough
seas on her passage across the Atlantic
and was later arriving than expected.
“Land!! The lights of Long Island
and New York City ahead,” Thunberghad tweeted before dawn yesterday,
shortly followed by another tweet
saying that she was anchored just off
the city, opposite the famous beach
resort of Coney Island in Brooklyn,
and was waiting to clear customs and
immigration.
Thunberg docked at North Cove
Marina on the edge of New York
harbo ur. The marina was full of enor-
mous yachts and sits right next to the
Brookfi eld mall – a large glass dome
fi lled with shoppers – which made for
an opulent setting for the arrival of the
climate change activist.
But before she even step ped on
to American soil, the yacht was wel-
comed by a fl otilla of 17 sailing boats,each with one of 17 sustainable devel-
opment goals written on their sails.
The special welcome convoy met
Thunberg’s yacht near the Statue of
Liberty, in New York Bay. As she was
approach ing the harbour in New York,
excitement and anticipation among
the crowds grew.
“I’ve been following her for the past
year or so and am very enthusiastic
about what she’s doing, how she’s
got young people involved with the
striking,” said Richard Walser, an IT
technician who travelled down from
Connecticut to welcome Thunberg
with his son, CJ.
Xiye Bastida, 17, a student, said she
was inspired by Thunberg’s activism
to organi se her own climate strike,
involving 600 fellow students at her
New York City school.
“She has a moral aspect to her mes-
sage, that our generation will suff er
the most. I hope she will raise the con-
sciousness of climate change in the US- help wake people up,” she said.
Bastida’s mobile phone carried a
sticker saying: “Greta has a posse.”
She added: “Everyone knows Greta.
We like that she’s humble, she’s just a
child who wants a better future, who
is basically like us, too.”
One woman arrived at the marina
clutching fl owers and a placard that
read “Welcome Greta”. The media was
also out in force, including journal-
ists from Chile, where world leaders
will gather later this year for annual
UN climate talks.
Others, however, were nonplussed.
One passerby asked if Thunberg was a
solo round-the-world yachtswoman.
The teenager is set to travel to Chile
for this event, although as yet it is
unclear how she will return home to
Sweden given her opposition to fl y-
ing because of its heavy fossil fuel use.
Her yacht left Plymouth on 14
August, and she marked the fi rst anni-
versary of the start of her school strike
on 20 August.
Thunberg began a sit-down dem-
onstration outside the Swedish
parliament in August 2018 to persuade
members of parliament to act on
climate change.
She was quickly joined by other
students around the world, as word
of her strike spread through the media,
and the “Fridays for Future” move-
ment was born.
Her Atlantic voyage sparked contro-
versy, however, after a spokesman for
Herrmann, the yacht’s co-skipper, told
the Berlin newspaper TAZ that several
people would fl y into New York to take
the yacht back to Europe. Herrmann
will also return by plane, according to
the spokesman.
Team Malizia’s manager insisted,
however, that the young activist’s
journey would be carbon neutral, as
the fl ights would be off set.
Thunberg has said she does not yet
know how she will return to Europe.
‘Everyone always
asks me about
Donald Trump. I say,
“Listen to the science”
and he obviously
does not do that’Greta Thunberg
Speaking to reportersCrowds welcome Thunberg to
New York after Atlantic crossing
▲ Above right, Thunberg halfway through her voyage. Above, the Malizia II by
the Statue of Liberty as it sails into New York MAIN PHOTOGRAPH: MIKE SEGAR/REUTERS▼ Greta Thunberg arriving in
Manhattan yesterday at the end
of her transatlantic crossing
PHOTOGRAPH: GRETA THUNBERG/TWITTERRELEASED BY "What's News" vk.com/wsnws TELEGRAM: t.me/whatsnws