Teen Climate Change Activist Sails from England to NYC for Summit Sans Toilet, Shower

Greta Thunberg, the teen face of the youth climate change movement, set sail on Wednesday from England to New York City for a United Nation’s summit on a “zero-emissions” racing yacht that has no toilet or shower but does have a solar panel.

The German website DW.com reported on Thunberg, who gained global acclaim after spearheading a school walkout to protest adults not acting to fight climate change:

Greta Thunberg is set to head into a stormy Atlantic Wednesday on board the “Malizia II,” a no-comfort, high-tech ocean racer skippered by a champion yachtsman and a member of Monaco’s royal family.

Sixteen-year-old Thunberg — who has long refused to fly due to planes’ carbon emissions — is setting sail on a zero-emissions yacht to New York for a UN climate summit. The Fridays for Future star’s voyage is skippered by round-the-world sailor Boris Herrmann from Hamburg and Pierre Casiraghi, the grandson of Monaco’s late Princess Grace Kelly.

Critics will find fault with its 18-meter-long, carbon-fiber hull —  derived from oil — but otherwise the yacht relies on its sails and autopilot, hydrofoils for underwater dynamics, a solar panel and water-driven turbines for electricity.

The DW report notes that a diesel motor is onboard in case of an emergency, which could happen if the sun does not shine during the trip, which will take about two weeks:

We are on our way!
Leaving Plymouth and heading for New York. Follow our journey here https://t.co/qJn5ShWQbB pic.twitter.com/U2Lbv3Xgzs

— Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) August 14, 2019

Thunberg will not take the eight-hour flight from the U.K. to New York because of the “enormous climate” costs of flying.

The DW article reported that Thunberg’s father, actor Svante Thunberg, and Norwegian filmmaker Nathan Grossman are also making the cross-Atlantic trip.

According to the United Nation’s website, the climate change summit at its headquarters in New York City is being billed as a race:

The world is in a race to limit climate change. To meet the urgent need to address climate change and achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is convening a summit on September 2019 to raise ambition and increase climate action.

The race is on. It is a race we can win. It is a race we must win.

The summit will take place on September 23.

Follow Penny Starr on Twitter.