[Vision2020] 11-13-19 NPR "Greta Thunberg Sets Sail For Home — And The U.N. Climate Conference"

[Ted Moffett]

Those who have followed Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg's visit to
the USA in 2019, which eventually would include a trip to Chile for the
COP25 climate change conference, till Chile cancelled hosting COP25 due to
great national turmoil, will recall she sailed across the big pond west to
New York on the Malizia II racing yacht.  Fast and not built for luxury,
there was no "toilet."  Thunberg descried it was like "camping on a roller
coaster."

Now Madrid, Spain will host COP25 2-13 December, 2019.  Thus Thunberg
needed transportation.  Once again, she is now sailing.... back to Europe!
This time with a toilet.

Thunberg avoids plane flight because of the high greenhouse gas emissions.

Thunberg placed a request on Twitter, and an Australian couple, with a
baby, who sail a catamaran, whatever that exactly is, offered her a ride!

WOW!

Vision2020 Post: Ted Moffett
--------------------------------------
Excerpt from article below:

November isn't exactly prime sailing season in the North Atlantic, but up
popped a reply
<https://twitter.com/Sailing_LaVaga/status/1191442943581859848> from an
Australian man named Riley Whitelum: "Greta it's Riley here from Sailing La
Vagabonde. If you get in contact with me I'm sure we could organise
something."

Turns out, Whitelum and Elayna Carausu
<https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/22/style/boat-life-youtube.html> have a
catamaran, a baby and a million subscribers following their #boatlife on
YouTube <https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZdQjaSoLjIzFnWsDQOv4ww/featured>.

For the next few weeks, the world's most famous climate activist will be a
part of it.
--------------------------------------
Vision2020 Post: Ted Moffett

Greta Thunberg Sets Sail For Home — And The U.N. Climate Conference
Nov. 13, 2019

Laurel Wamsley

https://www.npr.org/2019/11/13/778862907/greta-thunberg-sets-sail-for-home-and-the-u-n-climate-conference


Two and a half months after she arrived in New York Harbor, Greta Thunberg
set sail back to Europe.

The 16-year-old Swede's visit to the U.S. was a barnstorming tour for our
time: She had demanded of world leaders
<https://www.npr.org/2019/09/23/763389015/this-is-all-wrong-greta-thunberg-tells-world-leaders-at-u-n-climate-session>
at
the United Nations, "You all come to us young people for hope. How dare
you?" She had marched
<https://www.npr.org/2019/09/20/762629200/mass-protests-in-australia-kick-off-global-climate-strike-ahead-of-u-n-summit>
alongside
millions in the Global Climate Strike. She had rallied with thousands of
fellow students in places like Iowa City
<https://www.iowapublicradio.org/post/thousands-rally-iowa-city-climate-activist-greta-thunberg#stream/0>.
She had stood with Native American activists at Standing Rock
<https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/oct/09/greta-thunberg-standing-rock-north-south-dakota-nobel-peace-prize>
.

And she experienced life in the U.S., a country she says plays an
"incredibly important" role in fighting climate change.

"You are such a big country," she told NPR
<https://www.npr.org/2019/09/13/760538254/greta-thunberg-to-u-s-you-have-a-moral-responsibility-on-climate-change>
in
September. "In Sweden, when we demand politicians to do something, they
say, 'It doesn't matter what we do — because just look at the U.S.'

"I think you have an enormous responsibility" to lead climate efforts, she
added. "You have a moral responsibility to do that."

With her steely gaze and unwavering push to make the world's adults take
the necessary steps to avert further climate disaster, Thunberg has touched
off a global movement with young people at the forefront.

She is now both celebrity and oracle, ascending to worldwide notice since
her first "school strike for climate" in August 2018, when she protested
outside Sweden's parliament instead of going to class.

She had intended to make her way to Chile for the next round of U.N.
climate talks, but unrest there
<https://www.npr.org/2019/10/31/774862059/as-protests-persist-chiles-president-cancels-two-major-international-summits>
spurred
the COP25 <https://www.cop25.cl/#/> annual climate conference to move from
Santiago to Madrid.

But she couldn't just get a different flight: Thunberg won't fly, because
of air travel's outsize emissions. She needed to find a boat going her way.

She put out a request on Twitter
<https://twitter.com/GretaThunberg/status/1190290034131267591>: "It turns
out I've traveled half around the world, the wrong way:) Now I need to find
a way to cross the Atlantic in November... If anyone could help me find
transport I would be so grateful."

November isn't exactly prime sailing season in the North Atlantic, but up
popped a reply
<https://twitter.com/Sailing_LaVaga/status/1191442943581859848> from an
Australian man named Riley Whitelum: "Greta it's Riley here from Sailing La
Vagabonde. If you get in contact with me I'm sure we could organise
something."

Turns out, Whitelum and Elayna Carausu
<https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/22/style/boat-life-youtube.html> have a
catamaran, a baby and a million subscribers following their #boatlife on
YouTube <https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZdQjaSoLjIzFnWsDQOv4ww/featured>.

For the next few weeks, the world's most famous climate activist will be a
part of it.

La Vagabonde is outfitted with solar panels and hydro-generators
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRXWGEGd3mM>, so it has a minimal carbon
footprint. Thunberg had sailed from Europe to New York on a boat, though
unlike that vessel, this catamaran has a toilet.

The voyage is expected to take two to four weeks, and Thunberg hopes to
reach Spain in time for the climate conference taking place Dec. 2 to 13.
The boat's location can be tracked online <https://sailing-lavagabonde.com/>
.

As the catamaran set sail Wednesday morning from Hampton, Va., temperatures
were in the 30s, and Thunberg and her fellow sailors — including her
father, who traveled with her — were bundled against the cold.

Thunberg showed her typical aplomb before taking to the high seas.

"I'm looking forward to it," she told the AP, "just to be able to get away
and recap everything and to just be disconnected."

She had one more message for Americans: Vote.

"We must realize this is a crisis, and we must do what we can now to spread
awareness about this and to put pressure on the people in power," she told
<https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/nov/12/greta-thunberg-climate-crisis-message-vote>*The
Guardian*. "The U.S. has an election coming up soon, and it's very
important that for everyone who can vote, vote."
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