July 30th, 2019
Student climate activist Greta
Thunberg will cross the Atlantic Ocean by boat to attend the UN Climate Action
Summit in New York in September.
In a tweet, the Swedish campaigner announced that she will set sail from the United Kingdom mid-August aboard the 60-foot racing boat Malizia II. Team Malizia said in a Facebook post that they would be “honoured” to bring her across the Atlantic.
Thunberg has continuously
reiterated her refusal to fly, due to its environmental impact.
In addition to emitting carbon
dioxide, aviation emits pollutants such as nitrogen
oxides and particulate matter. When entering the atmosphere at high altitudes,
nitrogen oxides strengthen the lining of the ozone layer which leads to warmer
temperatures.
Research also suggests that aviation
worsens air quality and may cause 16,000 premature deaths every year due to
particulate matter exposure.
And since 1990, greenhouse gas emissions from air travel have more than doubled. With the industry expected to expand further and if trends continue globally, aviation may contribute up to 22 percent of CO2 emissions by 2050.
Thunberg also plans to join
delegates at this year’s key United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change (UNFCCC) conference in December in Chile. Both conferences,
Thunberg has said, are “pretty much where our
future will be decided”.
The September conference hopes to see international leaders present “concrete, realistic plans” to improve 2020 emission reduction goals and set the world on track for net-zero emissions by 2050.
The December gathering in Chile
will mark 25 years since the UNFCCC’s founding and parties to the Convention
will meet to discuss current commitments to limit global warming.
Last summer, Thunberg started
going on strike from school and sitting on the steps of her parliament to
demand greater action on tackling climate change.
In her address at the 2018 UN climate summit,
she asked the world’s young people to lead on climate action and called on
citizens around the world to “realize that our political leaders have failed
us”.
“We have not come here to beg the
world leaders to care for our future. They have ignored us in the past and they
will ignore us again,” she said.
“We have come here to let them know that change is coming whether they like it or not. The people will rise to the challenge.”
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