Atlantic flights for Greta would have generated less CO2 than her sailing

Greta Thunberg sails across the Atlantic for climate reasons instead of flying. For the return transfer of the yacht, however, a crew of 5 flies from Europe to the USA and the skipper himself flies back. Overall, the action, therefore, causes more CO2 emissions than if Thunberg had flown with her father.

Climate activist Greta Thunberg causes more greenhouse gas emissions with her sailing trip from the United Kingdom to the United States than if she had flown. About five employees would sail the yacht back to Europe. Of course, they fly over there. The skipper Boris Herrmann will also take the plane for the return journey to Europe. The sailing trip triggers at least six climate-damaging air travel across the Atlantic. If Thunberg had flown with her father, only two would have been necessary to come to New York.

Because flights are deemed damaging to the climate, Thunberg had been looking for a better way to travel to the United Nations Climate Change Summit in New York in September. On Wednesday afternoon, the 16-year-old got aboard the high-sea yacht “Malizia II” together with the two professional sailors Herrmann and Pierre Casiraghi, her father Svante and a filmmaker in the southern English town of Plymouth. The ship is powered by the wind, and electricity for navigation and communication is generated by solar cells.

When asked if it would not have been more climate-friendly if Thunberg had travelled on a container ship, her spokesman Andreas Kling replied: “This is a thought that is actually being considered for the return to Europe.”