Charlie Smith
SHE’S galvanised children across the world with her impassioned speeches on climate change.
Kids in 4,000 cities staged mass walkouts to protest against adults and politicians polluting the planet.
But now celebrity activist Greta Thunberg is facing her biggest challenge yet as she bids to cross the Atlantic for a critical climate summit, just announced for Spain.
The 16-year-old Swede, who was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, is currently stuck in the US, as she aims to make it to the Madrid conference over land or sea.
Famed for her low carbon footprint, she is looking for help from expats across America and Europe as she refuses to fly or drive, instead preferring greener transport like trains and boats.
But her green footprint has left her in trouble after the location for the UN COP25 climate summit was switched at the last minute from South America to Spain.
Her plans to head to Chile have had to be shelved, with the showdown now moved to Madrid, after a series of massive protests scared off organisers in Santiago.
But after Thunberg made her way to New York City by boat in August, en route to South America, she found herself stuck 5,700km from the Spanish capital.
“It turns out I’ve travelled halfway around the world, the wrong way,” the teen wrote on her Twitter account, which has three million followers.
“Now I need to find a way to cross the Atlantic,” she wrote, this week. “If anyone could help me find transport I would be so grateful.”
The Olive Press has stepped in to offer her a lift in an electric car from any of the ports she can make it to on the Iberian Peninsula, that could include Cadiz, Lisbon or A Coruna.
The summit that aims to implement the 2015 Paris agreement, will take place from December 2-13, leaving Greta with a little over three weeks to make it to Madrid.
She already has an offer from Spain’s Minister for the Environment, Teresa Ribera, who said: “We would love to help you to cross the Atlantic.
“It would be great to have you here in Madrid.”
After she had made it all the way to LA, Thunberg is now back on America’s east coast, having made stops in South Dakota and British Columbia in Canada.
Most recently she gave a speech at a climate rally in North Carolina.
Thunberg will be one of 25,000 people to attend Spain’s first ever climate summit, which will cost around €90 million to hold.
It comes as Spain’s government is locked in political crisis again, after no party secured an overall majority in the November 10 general election yesterday.
Can you help Greta Thunberg cross the Atlantic? Get in touch at newsdesk@theolivepress.es
