Barely arrived in New York after 15 days of crossing the Atlantic, the young muse for the climate Greta Thunberg called on Donald Trump to “listen to science” and humanity to “stop destroying nature”.
“Greta! Greta! »: The 16-year-old Swedish girl docked under a gray sky at the southern tip of Manhattan around 4 p.m. local (8 p.m. GMT), to the applause of a few hundred people who were waiting for her on the platform, and after having was briefly escorted by 17 UN boats – a reference to the organization’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals for 2030.
Barely landed, she showed her determination to continue to fight for the climate as she has been doing for a year, to the point of becoming a star for the hundreds of thousands of young people who answer her call to go to school every Friday. truant to draw attention to the climate emergency.
“The climate crisis is a global crisis, the greatest crisis facing humanity,” she said.
“We need to stand together and support each other and act, otherwise it might be too late. Do not wait any longer, act now! “
Asked what message she had for climate-skeptical US President Donald Trump, who could end up like her at the UN for the climate summit on September 23, she seemed less optimistic.
“My message to him is’ Listen to the science! But clearly he doesn’t […] If no one could convince him of the urgency of the climate crisis, why could I be able to do it? », Lamented the teenager.
Later, referring to the President’s repeated attacks on wind turbines, she slipped, laughing, “I’m pretty sure wind turbines don’t cause cancer.”
Words undoubtedly appreciated by the Democratic Mayor of New York Bill de Blasio.
“Greta Thunberg has shown more leadership on climate in a crossing of the ocean than the entire Trump administration since coming to power,” the mayor said in a tweet just before arriving in Manhattan.
Stressing also to have heard during her crossing of the fires which ravage the Amazonia, vital for the planet, the young woman considered them “disastrous” and considered that it was the “clear sign that we must stop destroying nature” .
The mooring of the Malizia II in New York marks the end of a journey that began on August 14 in Plymouth, Great Britain, to end with a passage in front of the Statue of Liberty and a mooring near the mouth of the river Hudson, west of Manhattan.
The teenager, now recognizable worldwide for her doll face and long braids, had then embarked with her father aboard the zero-emission sailboat Malizia II, skipped by Pierre Casiraghi, son of Princess Caroline of Monaco, and the German Boris Herrmann.
Greta Thunberg, diagnosed with Asperger’s autism at the age of 12, refused to fly because of the carbon emissions this means of transport generates.
The trip, in sometimes rough waters, with a bucket for only toilet, was clearly tiring, although she noted that “the power and the beauty of the ocean (him) reminded us that we must stop destroying the world.” in which we live ”.
“My brain isn’t working well anymore,” she apologized as she stammered briefly at the press conference.
“It’s crazy that a 16-year-old has to cross the Atlantic to assert his views,” she added.
If her “FridaysforFuture” movement has inspired crowds of young people around the world, Greta Thunberg also has her detractors.
In recent days, some have mocked his trip by boat, arguing that several members of the crew of the sailboat had planned to return to Europe by plane, and that his trip would therefore also contribute to polluting the planet.
But this kind of controversy does not seem to weaken the determination of the teenager, who has planned a series of meetings and activist actions in New York before the summit on September 23.
If she shortened the press conference to go “to rest”, she indicated that she would participate on Friday in a youth march in front of the UN.
She also plans to demonstrate on Friday the 20th – just before the summit on the 23rd – and September 27th.
Besides the United States, she also plans to travel to Canada, Mexico and Santiago de Chile for another UN conference in December.
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