- Title: Young Europeans start seven-week sailing boat trip to COP25
- Date: 2nd October 2019
- Summary: AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS (OCTOBER 2, 2019) (REUTERS) SAILING BOAT 'REGINA MARIS' SAILING OUT OF HARBOUR WITH YOUNG EUROPEANS ON BOARD PARTICIPANTS TO THE "SAIL TO THE COP" INITIATIVE WAVING VARIOUS OF BANNER ON SHIP READING (English): "TRAVELLING SLOW ACTING FAST!" VARIOUS OF PARTICIPANT ATTACHING BANNER TO BOAT SHIP IN HARBOUR SIGN WITH NAME OF BOAT 'REGINA MARIS AMSTERDAM' VARIOUS OF PARTICIPANT AND CO-ORGANISER OF THE INITIATIVE, MARA DE PATER, ARRANGING HER SLEEPING BAG IN THE CABIN (SOUNDBITE) (English) PARTICIPANT AND CO-ORGANISER OF THE INITIATIVE, MARA DE PATER, SAYING: "We young people should have an influence on important climate conferences such as the COP (United Nations Conference of the Parties) and that the COP should be more ambitious and should take more radical decisions when it comes to policy." CABINS (SOUNDBITE) (English) PARTICIPANT AND CO-ORGANISER OF THE INITIATIVE, MARA DE PATER, SAYING: "Well, I am expecting a lot of fun because we are sailing and I really love that. But we are also going to work on the ship so we are doing a think tank on sustainable travel so we are making a vision of what the travel industry should look like, how we want it, as young people, and a road map to achieve that. So I am expecting both fun and hard work and very inspiring outcomes." VARIOUS OF PARTICIPANTS WORKING (SOUNDBITE) (English) PARTICIPANT AND CO-ORGANISER OF THE INITIATIVE, MARA DE PATER, SAYING: "For me it's really important that the travel industry changes. Right now it's a very polluting industry and as young people we really need a more sustainable future and that includes the travel industry to be more sustainable." INITIATIVE LOGO ON BOAT SAIL BOAT IN HARBOUR ROPE ON BOLLARD HELM DE PATER AND OTHER PARTICIPANT TALKING VARIOUS OF RAINBOW IN HARBOUR ROPES BOAT SAILING BEHIND THE 'REGINA MARIS' VARIOUS OF PARTICIPANTS ON BOAT FLAG FOR AMSTERDAM CITY PARTICIPANTS ON BOAT BOAT LEAVING HARBOUR
- Embargoed: 16th October 2019 17:53
- Keywords: U.N. Climate Conference students sustainable Regina Maris Chile sailing boat environment Climate change COP25 travelling Santiago
- Location: AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS
- City: AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS
- Country: Netherlands
- Topics: Environment,Editors' Choice,Climate Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA001AZEORPJ
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:A three-mast schooner left the port of Amsterdam on Wednesday (October 2) with 36 young Europeans on board, heading to Chile to participate in the United Nations Climate Conference.
The initiative called "Sail to the Cop", the acronym for the conference, was launched by four Dutch people to raise awareness on the impact of air travelling on environment.
Tens of young Europeans, mainly from the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany and aged between 18 and 30, were selected from 60 applicants to join the trip that is expected to last about seven weeks.
During this time, participants will work together to discuss possible solutions for the future of travel, Mara De Pater, one of the organisers of the initiative, said.
She added she was expecting a lot of fun during the trip, but was also hoping for "very inspiring outcomes".
The boat, named "Regina Maris", and its crew will make four stops on their way and hope to reach Rio de Janeiro in Brazil around November 20. The participants will then reach Santiago, where the COP25 will be held between December 2 and 13, by bus.
During the summer, Swedish teenage activist Greta Thunberg sailed across the Atlantic from Britain to the United States in a zero-carbon emissions boat and later angrily denounced world leaders for failing to tackle climate change during a speech at the opening of a United Nations climate change summit on September 23.
(Production Hilde Verweij, Hortense de Roffignac) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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