Greta Thunberg's plan to save carbon emissions backfires over travel on luxury yacht

Teenage climate change activist Greta Thunberg refuses to fly on airplanes, relegating her trans-Atlantic travel to boats. The 16-year-old Swede believes the move cuts down on carbon emissions.

So, when Thunberg needed to travel from the U.S. to Europe last month in order to attend a climate summit in Madrid, Thunberg took a boat, of course.

However, as it turned out, Thunberg's trip did not reduce carbon emissions. Instead, it produced the same amount that Thunberg hoped to save — perhaps even more.

That is because, as the Sunday Times reported, Nikki Henderson, a 26-year-old yacht skipper, flew to the U.S. from Britain to sail Thunberg's ship — the La Vagabonde, a 48-foot catamaran — the 3,500 mile journey from the U.S. to Portugal.

More from the Daily Mail:

The journey was meant to save approximately two or three tons of carbon dioxide emissions.

But Ms Henderson's flight from Britain to the US likely produced the same amount of emissions the journey hoped to save, countering Ms Thunberg's mission, The Times reports.

Adding insult to injury, the vessel Thunberg used for her journey is not climate friendly because it has two diesel engines and is made from products that use petroleum for production.

Craig Rucker — president of Committee For A Constructive Tomorrow, a free-market environmental organization — said Thunberg's travel logistics are "rife with irony."

"The irony of protesting capitalism and oil on board a carbon-fiber (petrochemical) yacht owned by European royals who made billions operating Monaco as a tax haven was rich," he wrote last month.