Ecology. Results of 2020
Main environmental results of 2020
Exclusive information portal
Exclusive information portal
Sixteen-year-old Swedish activist Greta Thunberg will sail to the United States in the middle of August. Arriving in North America, she will join large-scale climate demonstrations on September 20 and 27, and will speak at the UN Climate Change Summit in New York on September 23.
During her environmental campaign, Greta will meet with people who have been affected by climate change, as well as with other activists and decision makers. Then she will visit Canada and Mexico, and after that, she will go to Chile at the UN annual climate conference (COP25), which will be held in Santiago from December 2 to 13. In South America, the activist will visit other events important to overcome the climate crisis.
Greta Thunberg at a climate strike in Berlin, photo © gretathunberg
Greta does not fly on airplanes because of the huge amount of emissions that they leave, so for her trip to America she chose the least carbon-intensive mode of transport. After months of research and comparison of options, she will sail across the Atlantic on a zero-carbon sailing racing boat called the Malizia II. It was built in 2015, equipped with solar panels, as well as underwater turbines to generate electricity on board.
The boat will depart from the United Kingdom in mid-August and arrive in New York in about two weeks without stopping on the way. The exact dates will depend on weather conditions. Her father, Svante Thunberg, and filmmaker Nathan Grossman from B-Reel Films, who will document the trip, will join Greta on the trip. The boat will be led by professional skipper Boris Herrmann and the founder of the Malizia team, Pierre Casiraghi. They sacrificed their time and offered their skills for free to help Greta to cross the Atlantic without flying. The trip is co-organized by Greta, Team Malizia and B-Reel Films.
(left to right) Boris Herrmann, Svante and Greta Thunberg, photo © Birte Lorenzen
The Malizia team has also developed the Malizia Ocean Challenge project, which aims to study the ocean climate and monitor the level of CO2 in its waters. The initiative is supported by the Foundation Prince Albert II de Monaco, a charitable organization that helps solve climate and environmental issues.
Greta Thunberg: “Mankind must abruptly curve the emission curve no later than 2020 so that the global temperature rise does not exceed 1.5 degrees. We still have time, but it ends quickly. All in our hands! Therefore, I decided to go on this journey now. Last year, millions of people started talking about the need for world leaders to understand the environmental situation, and events in New York and Santiago de Chile will show whether they heard this call or not. Together with many other people from all over the world, I will be there, even if the journey is long and difficult. We will make us heard. It is about our future, and we must have at least the right to vote. We act on the basis of scientific facts, and we call on the whole world to do this. ”
Malizia II, photo © Andreas Lindlahr
Boris Herrmann: “Greta courageously confronts ignorance regarding the climate crisis. Knowing her courage to speak loudly even in front of the most influential people, I am not surprised that this trip does not scare her. Pierre and I are aware of our responsibility and will make sure that the girl gets to New York safe and sound. I am delighted that our sporting ambitions and sailing project will play a small but, hopefully, important role in raising people's awareness of the global problems facing humanity. And I'm glad that Greta agreed to cross the Atlantic without harming the environment, despite the lack of comfort. "
Interior of Malizia II, фото © Andreas Lindlahr
Pierre Casiraghi said: “I believe that society needs to know more about how human activities pollute the environment. Governments and international institutions, in turn, are required to enforce laws that protect both people and the biodiversity of the planet. Greta is an ambassador carrying an idea that is extremely important for modern society and for future generations, because the Malizia team and I are proud to lead it through the Atlantic. Unfortunately, chosen transport is the only one possible that moves without emissions of fossil fuels. I hope that other options will appear in the near future. I respect the courage of Greta, who has accepted this challenge and is fully dedicated to solving the main task facing humanity."
Boris Herrmann and Pierre Casiraghi, photo © Martin Messmer
Nathan Grossman: “Like many, I was struck by Greta’s struggle to raise people's awareness of the climate crisis. In our documentary, we will show its difficult path without embellishment and the hard work of the team, which makes great efforts to help this brave activist. We will show the audience all the difficulties and the incredible beauty of such trips. ”
Ekaterina Tikhonova, Russia, Moscow 
INFORMATION
Sixteen-year-old Greta Thunberg is a climate activist from Sweden who started a school strike in front of the Swedish parliament in August 2018. Her initiative provoked similar school strikes in more than 150 countries around the world, in which took part more than two million people. Greta promises to speak every Friday until Sweden begins to abide the Paris Climate Agreement.
Greta Thunberg is activist from Sweden, photo © Anders Hellberg
The activist with her family lives in Stockholm, in the summer she graduated from the 9th grade of a comprehensive school. Now, for a climate campaign in the United States, she took a break from her studies, putting the need to prevent the global consequences of the climate crisis above personal interests. The girl has already spoken to decision-makers at the UN climate summit in Poland, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, as well as in the European and several national parliaments. She is nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize and in 2019 entered the list of 100 most influential people, according to Time magazine.
20 and 27 September. Global climate strikes will take place on the 20th and 27th, and the Week for Future will be held between them, which will unite young people, parents, trade unions, and many other caring people. The "Week", according to the organizers, will be the largest global action against climate destruction.
23 September. On this day will host the UN summit on climate change in New York, organized by UN Secretary General António Guterres. At the event, countries of the world will present specific plans for updating their climate commitments by 2020 in accordance with the Paris Agreement.
After, other events and meetings will take place that are still awaiting confirmation.
Team Malizia is a sailing team that participates in ocean races on the Malizia II, which has the high-tech foiling nomohull IMOCA 60'. The team was founded in 2016 by Pierre Casiraghi and Boris Herrmann. Team mates are good friends, ocean researchers and athletes who have repeatedly tested their skills in the largest races in the world and plan to participate in the Vendee Globe 2020 and The Ocean Race 2021. The duo also developed the scientific and educational project Malizia Ocean Challenge, which is designed to tell children about climate change. Supported by the Foundation Prince Albert II de Monaco, it also collects ocean CO2 data using an integrated sensor. The received information is transmitted to the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology in Munich and the Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research in Kiel.
B-Reel Films (BRF) is a Swedish film company that makes a full-length documentary about Greta Thunberg and her struggle to raise public awareness of the climate crisis. Director Nathan Grossman follows the girl from the very beginning of her campaign and became part of the team aboard Malizia II to document the journey. BRF is an independent film company based in Los Angeles and Stockholm. It was founded in 1995.
