Teen climate activist is leaving US, setting sail for Spain

By Ben Finley, The Associated Press

Posted Nov 12, 2019 08:30:33 PM.

This article is more than 5 years old.

HAMPTON, Va. — Swedish teen climate activist Greta Thunberg will soon leave North America and sail across the Atlantic in a 48-foot (15-meter) catamaran sailboat.

Greta Thunberg said she plans to leave from Hampton, Virginia, on Wednesday. The trip could take weeks. But she hopes to make it to Madrid for a United Nations climate conference in early December.

Thanks to solar panels and hydro-generators, the boat leaves little to no carbon footprint.

Thunberg has just finished a nearly three-month trip across North America. She delivered a passionate speech before the United Nations and took part in climate rallies from California to Colorado to North Carolina.

Thunberg has become a symbol of a growing movement of young climate activists after leading weekly school strikes in Sweden that inspired similar actions in about 100 cities.

Ben Finley, The Associated Press

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