| “The window to keep the global temperature rise to below 1.5 or 2 degrees C is closing very fast. That’s why I’m making this trip” – Greta Thunberg
Malizia II, outfitted with solar panels and underwater turbines for electricity, will measure ocean CO2 levels along the way. Greta Thunberg set sail for America from Plymouth, UK, this afternoon at 3pm BST. She will make the two-week crossing on board zero-emission race boat Malizia II, captained by Boris Herrmann and team founder Pierre Casiraghi. You will be able to follow the journey via a live tracker online at both www.borisherrmannracing.com and www.team-malizia.com. There is limited access to internet data, but Greta and Boris will be able to communicate and share content via their social media channels at regular intervals. The trip can also be followed via Greta Thunberg, Boris Herrmann, and Team Malizia’s social media accounts. “This voyage symbolises two things: that it’s not easy to replace fossil fuels, and that overcoming this challenge can be a great adventure. It also offers the opportunity to bring us closer to nature, each other and ourselves. This 3,500 nautical mile crossing of the North Atlantic will be difficult but I have no doubt that Greta, with her remarkable courage, will embrace this journey,” says Boris Herrmann. — ENDS — Notes to editor: Media contacts
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Background on the trip Greta will speak at the United Nations Climate Action Summit, hosted by Secretary General António Guterres in New York City, on September 23, and join large-scale climate demonstrations on September 20 and 27. She also plans to visit Canada and Mexico. Greta will then travel to the annual UN climate conference (COP25) in Santiago, Chile, between December 2-13, with plans to visit other parts of South America that are important in tackling the climate crisis. Greta is taking a sabbatical year from school and will be away for at least nine months. It is not yet decided how she will return to Europe. Greta will be joined by her father, Svante Thunberg, and filmmaker, Nathan Grossman, of B-Reel Films, who will document the journey. The boat will be captained by professional race skipper, Boris Herrmann, and Malizia team founder, Pierre Casiraghi, who have donated their time and skills to help Greta cross the Atlantic without flying. The voyage is jointly organised by Greta, Team Malizia, and B-Reel Films. Greta Thunberg Greta Thunberg, 16, is a climate activist from Sweden who started a school strike in front of the Swedish parliament in August 2018. Since then, her initiative has inspired school strikes for climate action in more than 150 countries. More than two million people attended global school strikes in March and in May. Greta plans to continue striking every Friday until Sweden is in line with the Paris climate agreement. Greta has addressed decision-makers at the UN climate summit in Poland, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, and at the European Parliament and several European national parliaments. She has been nominated for the Nobel peace prize and was on Time Magazine’s list of the 100 most influential people in 2019. Greta lives in Stockholm with her family and finished comprehensive school earlier this summer (9th grade). She is now taking a gap year from school to allow her to take her climate campaign to the Americas, at a time when it’s crucial we quickly bend the emissions curve to limit the most dangerous impacts of the climate crisis. Team Malizia Team Malizia is a racing sailing team founded in 2016 by Pierre Casiraghi and Boris Herrmann with Malizia II a high-tech IMOCA 60’ foiling monohull. The pair are racing teammates, good friends and ocean explorers. Together, they have worked to create Team Malizia with the aim to sail in the biggest ocean races in the world including the Vendee Globe 2020 and The Ocean Race 2021. The duo also developed The Malizia Ocean Challenge, a science and education project supported by the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation. There is a free to download education pack in English, French and German which educates 8-12 year olds about about climate change and the ocean. The team are also measuring ocean CO2 via an onboard CO2 sensor on all of their sailing journeys. Data collected is given to the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology in Munich and the Geomar Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research in Kiel.
B-Reel Films B-Reel Films (BRF) is a Swedish film production company making a feature length documentary about Greta Thunberg and her fight to raise awareness of the climate crisis. The director Nathan Grossman has followed Greta from the inception of Greta’s campaign and will be part of the team on board Malizia II in order to document Greta’s journey for the upcoming documentary. BRF was founded in 1995 and is an independent film production company operating in Los Angeles and Stockholm. |