Greta Thunberg reaches New York by yacht after crossing the Atlantic to attend climate summit

SWEDISH CLIMATE ACTIVIST Greta Thunberg has arrived in New York after crossing the Atlantic on a zero-emissions sailboat.

The 16-year-old announced her arrival today, tweeting: “Land!! The lights of Long Island and New York City ahead.”

She later wrote on Twitter that her yacht had anchored off the entertainment district of Coney Island in Brooklyn to clear customs and immigration. 

She and a sailing crew encountered rough seas on their two-week journey to New York. They are expected to step off the boat at a marina in lower Manhattan this afternoon. 

We have anchored off Coney Island - clearing customs and immigration. We will come ashore at North Cove Marina earliest 14:45 tide allowing. pic.twitter.com/t6yy5z2asp

— Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) August 28, 2019

The teenager refused to fly to avoid a plane’s gas emissions. Action against climate change has been a theme of protests she has led in Sweden that inspired student strikes in about 100 cities worldwide earlier this year. 

The yacht left Plymouth in southern England on 14 and Thunberg marked the first anniversary of the start of her school strike on 20 August. 

Thunberg began sitting outside the Swedish parliament in August 2018 to get members of parliament to act on climate change.

Thunberg is in New York to attend a climate change conference and is also set to speak at the United Nations Climate Action Summit next month.