Environmental protection: German climate activists also sail across the Atlantic

The announcement by 16-year-old Greta Thunberg that she would sail to the UN Climate Summit on the Imoca 60 "Malizia" with professional ocean sailors Boris Herrmann and Pierre Casiraghi in order to travel from Europe to the USA in a climate-neutral way has caused a stir worldwide. However, the idea of crossing the Atlantic under sail rather than boarding an aeroplane is nothing new.

36 young climate activists from all over Europe, including seven from Germany, will be travelling on the three-masted schooner "Regina Maris" sail to South America. Their destination is the World Climate Change Conference, which will take place in Santiago, Chile, in December. In order to raise the money for the charter of the windjammer and other travel costs, the participants began looking for supporters a year ago and have been working hard to raise funds. Crowdfunding campaigns into being. They are now using the current excitement surrounding Greta Thunberg to draw even more attention to their project.

Among others, the 25-year-old lawyer Clara von Glasow. She has already taken part in previous climate conferences in Bonn and Katowice and will be present in Santiago as a representative of the German organisation Klimadelegation e.V..

When asked why she decided to take on the long journey in the first place and then by sailing ship, she says: "To show that it is possible to travel far with low emissions and to ensure that the voice of young people is heard at the climate negotiations." Thanks to their journey by ship, the participants would save around 4700 kilograms of CO2 per person - the equivalent of a flight from Amsterdam to Chile.

Von Glasow: "We are calling on national politicians to make the aviation and shipping sectors more accountable for their massive emissions and to stop subsidising the aviation sector through a lack of taxes." Instead, resource-adapted travel must become more attractive and affordable.

The young people, most of whom are still studying or have just completed their studies, want to use the long time at sea to jointly develop analyses and solutions for the future of travel. The ship is to become a "sailing think tank".

However, it is not yet entirely clear how much time they will actually have for discussing and analysing en route. "The ship does have a permanent crew of five. Nevertheless, we are of course also included in the watch rhythm," reports von Glasow. Apart from two short sailing trips, she herself has no sailing experience, unlike many of her fellow crew members. "But we're having a longer preparatory meeting soon, also to prepare for the trip."

The sea voyage is estimated to take a total of six weeks. Starting from the Dutch coast, it will first sail through the English Channel and across the Bay of Biscay to the Canary Islands and Cape Verde. This is followed by the long nine-day voyage to Brazil. The destination harbour is Rio de Janeiro. "From there, we will travel on to Chile by bus," says von Glasow.

The "Regina Maris" is a 41 metre long three-masted schooner built in Poland in 1979 and completely overhauled in 1991. The ship is an annual guest at major windjammer meetings such as the Hansesail and regularly sails in European waters and overseas.