Greta Thunberg arrives in Lisbon after threeweek voyage from US
The climate activist Greta Thunberg has arrived in Lisbon after a three-week catamaran voyage across the Atlantic Ocean from the US.
The Swedish teenager now plans to head to Spain to attend the UN climate conference in Madrid.
Thunberg hitched a ride from the US with an Australian family on their 48-ft (15-metre) yacht.
The white catamaran carrying Thunberg sailed slowly up the River Tagus under blue skies and a stiff breeze. Thunberg’s father, Svante, was also on the boat as it approached the Lisbon quayside.
Chile’s environment minister, Carolina Schmidt, saluted Thunberg’s role in speaking out about the threat of climate breakdown.
“She has been a leader that has been able to move and open hearts for many young people and many people all over the world,” Schmidt said at the summit in Madrid. “We need that tremendous force in order to increase climate action,.”
Thunberg was due to be met in Lisbon by local dignitaries and other activists. Her representatives said they could not confirm when she would travel to the Spanish capital.
She wanted a low-carbon form of transport to get to the climate meeting, which was switched at short notice to Spain from Chile due to unrest there. The yacht, named La Vagabonde, leaves little or no carbon footprint when its sails are up, using solar panels and hydro-generators for electricity.
Meanwhile, a report by the UN weather agency released on the sidelines of the climate talks has found that this decade is likely to set a 10-year temperature record.
Preliminary measurements show the years 201519 and 2010-19 “are, respectively, almost certain to be the warmest five-year period and decade on record”, the World Meteorological Organization said. “Since the 1980s, each successive decade has been warmer than the last.”
While full-year figures would not be released until March, 2019 was also expected to be the second or third warmest year since measurements began, with 2016 still holding the all-time temperature record, it said.