UN Welcomes Teen Climate Activist with 17 Sailing Ships

Teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg sailed into New York Harbor Wednesday in a zero-carbon emissions vessel, completing her nearly 14-day journey from England to take part in a United Nations climate summit.

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The 16-year-old Swedish schoolgirl, who set sail from Plymouth, England, on Aug. 14, was greeted by cheers, chants and singing as her silver sailboat, the Malitzia II, cruised past the Statue of Liberty through choppy waves and rain to drop anchor in Manhattan's yacht harbor.

Thunberg made her trans-Atlantic journey carbon emission-free by traveling on a 19-meter yacht, which is equipped with solar panels and underwater turbines that produce electricity onboard, along with a large black sail carrying the message: "Unite behind the science."

The boat has no shower or toilets, and those aboard including Thunberg's father and crew members ate cold canned food throughout the trip.

Thunberg, who first drew international attention last year when she started missing school on Fridays to protest against political inaction on climate change, said she planned to take part in a demonstration outside the U.N. in New York on Friday.

Peppered with questions from reporters about her message for U.S. President Donald Trump, a climate change skeptic, Thunberg suggested she was not interested in butting heads with the Republican.

"My message for him is just listen to the science, but he obviously doesn't do that. No one has been able to convince him of climate change, the urgency, why should I be able to do that?" she said. "So I'm just going to focus on spreading awareness."

In addition to the U.N. Climate Action Summit in New York, Thunberg intends to attend the COP 25 climate change conference in Santiago, Chile, in December, planning to make her way there without using air travel.