Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg reached New York on Wednesday, after a 15-day journey crossing the Atlantic in a zero-carbon yacht.
“Land!! The lights of Long Island and New York City ahead,” the 16-year-old tweeted, alongside a dark, blurry photo of lights in the distance.
She later wrote on Twitter that her yacht had anchored off the entertainment district of Coney Island in Brooklyn to clear customs and immigration.
Thunberg is expected to dock at North Cove Marina near the World Trade Center around 2:15 pm (1815 GMT), according to a spokesperson.
The teenage activist herself tweeted that she should arrive around 2:45 pm after the 3,000-nautical-mile (5,550 kilometers) trip.
Thunberg will make brief remarks before answering questions from journalists, the spokesperson added.
Ms. Thunberg is sailing to New York to attend a UN summit on zero emissions next month after refusing to fly there because of the carbon emissions caused by planes.
She was offered a ride on the Malizia II racing yacht skippered by Pierre Casiraghi, the son of Monaco’s Princess Caroline, and German round-the-world sailor Boris Herrmann.
The yacht left Plymouth in southern England on August 14, and the teenager marked the first anniversary of the start of her school strike on August 20.
The 18-metre yacht features state-of-the-art solar panels on its deck and sides, and two hydro-generators provide the vessel’s electricity. It can travel at speeds of around 35 knots (70 kmph). Ms. Thunberg, who was diagnosed with Asperger syndrome at the age of 12, began sitting outside the Swedish parliament in August 2018 to get members of parliament to act on climate change.
She was quickly joined by other students around the world, as word of her strike spread through the media, and the “Fridays for future” movement was born.
