Bon voyage Greta Thunberg

What do you suggest then Happyogi?
That we all go back to pre-Industrial Revolution ways of living or that we seek better alternatives?

This was only a thread to wish good luck to a young girl.

Well Gonegirl that went well?

I certainly wouldn't wish bad luck on her, but launching yourself on a long journey on an ocean racer, a boat whose technology can contribute nothing to any changes in transport technology or strategy and when it is entirely unnecessary, is just attention seeking. There are safer, and arguably, more effective ways of putting her point across,

Happiyogi I absolutely agree with you that the problem needs to be treated with much more urgency, but I cannot see, for the life of me, how her antics contribute an iota to either raising its profile or contributing any practical solutions

She would be better off following the example of Malala Yousafzai, who after she had got out of Pakistan and recovered from her injuries, went back to school, concentrated on her studies and now she has graduated from Oxford is able to pursue her campaign for women's education in an informed and practical way.

Hmmm she's too young to influence politicians and those in power?

It was teenagers like I was then, campaigning and demonstrating that eventually pulled in millions of others that eventually stopped the war in Vietnam and eventually stopped apartheid. Yes it took time and took teenagers ignorant of so much but with a strong sense of right and wrong.

And you know what: it is so important that this ignorant girl does get the support for her views that we should all get on our knees and pray for ears to hear, eyes to see and minds to understand such that politicians act more decisively than hitherto.

So I repeat God bless her and her efforts

I hope she arrives safely.

I question how many of us could afford to sail the Atlantic on a 4 million racing yacht? Who is funding this journey?

Oops 4 million pound....

Please, M0nica, what she is doing can't be called antics. She's asking for people to respond to the crisis. A crisis not made by her generation, but one which they will have to deal with and, hopefully, survive.

My point was that in the main we're very much behaving as if business as usual will suffice.

And there no no single way to do it. Malala is to be applauded for doing what she needs to, in her way.

A single "no" would have sufficed in my last post! Sorry.

I honestly don’t see how this journey is being funded actually matters. As for the use of the already existing yacht, perhaps the only criticism would be if it had been built specially for this one trip and then thrown away? I do think some posters are being quite unnecessarily critical of her and very nit- picking and overall, it’s not a very ‘good look’ is it really?

What is this planned voyage but an antic? It is completely puposeless.

If I had time, I'd find a way to do it in words of one syllable.

The points are:

1 To get to America via a carbon-neutral means.
2 To demonstrate that we have a global default setting of travel which is massively contributing to the death of our planet, by highlighting how very uncomfortable and impractical and unavailable any alternative is.
3 To draw global attention to our global plight.

Life as we have enjoyed it is not sustainable. If we wish to continue to eat food, breathe clean air, heat our homes and move ourselves or goods around the earth, we need to - really, really quickly - find sustainable alternatives.

No-one is disagreeing with that - but this 16 year old girl isn't saying anything that we don't already know, and there are plenty of experienced people who are far further ahead of her in terms of real achievements. She might be a good soundbite, a slightly kooky public face, but let's keep it in perspective - we'll all perfectly well aware of the issues and many of us have been doing practical things to address them for many years.

I think many like to sneer at anyone who is trying to draw attention to the problems we face as a planet, maybe as a defence mechanism to their own lack of interest/ willingness to change and the real extent of the environmental emergency. I think some people think that doing a bit of recycling is enough and everyone else should just shut up.

I think you may have put your finger on it crystaltipps.

She should talk to the peoples of India and China who are the worst polluters.

I’m actually not sure when anyone of any age told me something I didn’t really know about that was actually important ( at least in my later years) - but some people bring a freshness or new impetus to the message. I admire Malala but I knew all about the issues her case illustrated. But I do realise that an important message is never wasted in the re-telling and we need the next generations to hopefully do a better job than we have.

And where is the lucrative market for the cheap, pollution-causing goods made for us in India and China???

crystaltips, some of us do a lot more than "a bit of recycling"!

We have spent thousands of pounds on solar panels, 30,000 litre water harvesting system (which waters garden, is used for flushing toilets and cleaning cars, patio etc) have just renewed my car for an eco friendly engine, have had to replace 4 work vans due to the London ULEZ charge, along with planting trees and looking after existing ones in our garden.

We do not buy "throw away" fashion, our AC pass round Baby cots, cribs, clothes and toys. We walk wherever/whenever possible.

Greta maybe the current face of climate change, but unfortunately until China, India, Russia and even Germany (which is cutting down a 1,000 year old forest to mine brown coal which is extremely dirty!!) address these issues the planet will suffer.

And virtually everyone on GN still drives cars, maybe even 2 to a family, books cruises and travels by air at least once a year.
We have to be realistic and admit that our energy consumption is massive and some of it unnecessary, however, no-one is willing to live without the 'comforts' that using energy brings.

Nanny41 - Yes she is being exploited, and its her Father behind this I believe reading the Swedish papers ( I live in Sweden) why they make her look like a twelve year old with plaits I dont know,maybe to get more sympathy for her cause.She is sixteen for goodness sake she should act like one

Well if you live in Sweden you must know that plaits are not really associated with young children the way they are in the UK - many women in their late teens/20s wear them. Top sports women wear plaits (Stina Nilsson for example), a lot of 6th form/gymnasiet girls wear plaits and my DD graduated from a Swedish University this year ... in plaits.

Which is why it would have been better to show what alternatives exist for us to use at the moment - rather than use a boat that none of us have access to.

SirChenjin totally agree!

Monica What is this planned voyage but an antic? It is completely purposeless.

That is just plain nasty.

It is hardly an "antic".