Finally arrived: The Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg is back in Europe after her renewed sailing trip across the Atlantic. The catamaran "La Vagabonde" with the 16-year-old sailed on Tuesday in bright sunshine in a port in the Portuguese capital Lisbon, before Thunberg went ashore after three weeks at sea. In her arms she carried her protest sign saying "School strike for the climate".
Lisbon !! pic.twitter.com/WkWi1da4WO
- Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) 3 December 2019It was received by dozens of supporters, some drummers and the mayor of Lisbon, Fernando Medina. Their arrival had been delayed by several hours because of the light winds on the spot.
Before their arrival, Thunberg said in the morning of the Swedish newspaper "Dagens Nyheter" that it would be very unreal to soon be back on land. "It's a pretty special feeling to see country and people, it's a great relief, but also a bit sad, it's hard to explain." In the early morning, she had posted a photo of the Portuguese coast, which was still submerged in the darkness, in the social networks. "Land ahoy!" She wrote on Twitter.
Country ahoy! pic.twitter.com/jt3qr8kKhP
- Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) 3 December 2019For Thunberg it was already the second transatlantic trip within four months. Among other things, the young Swede sailed to America in August for the world climate conference planned in Chile, which was then relocated to Madrid because of the unrest there.
The climate activist does not fly because of the high CO2 emissions from air travel. That's why she brought a well-known YouTuber family across the Atlantic back to Europe. Thunberg's father Svante and the English professional skipper Nikki Henderson were also on board.
"My voice is not irreplaceable"
According to information from Portuguese newspapers, Thunberg will travel by train from Lisbon in the evening - previously she would rest in a hotel from the exertions of the sea voyage, wrote the "Diário de Notícias".
The climate conference in Madrid started on Monday. However, Thunberg had anticipated not to arrive on time. The World Climate Change Conference was very important and she would do her best to arrive in Madrid in time, she said on 13 November. But whether she makes it on time or not does not matter much: "There are countless other activists there who will speak there and deliver the same message as I. And it's not that my voice is irreplaceable." Until December 13, Madrid will discuss, inter alia, the further implementation of the Paris Climate Agreement of 2015.
