グレタさん、トランプ氏の「極端」な気候変動否定論が人々の目を覚ます　ＡＦＰインタビュー

【ハンプトンＡＦＰ＝時事】スウェーデンの環境活動家グレタ・トゥンベリさん（16）は12日、ドナルド・トランプ米大統領の気候変動否定論は、「あまりにも極端」であるため、長期的な温暖化を食い止めるための運動を活性化する一助となっているとの考えを示した。（写真は米バージニア州ハンプトンに停泊した船の上でインタビューに応じる、スウェーデンの環境活動家グレタ・トゥンベリさん）
　ほぼ３か月間にわたって滞在した北米を出発する前日、グレタさんは米バージニア州ハンプトンでＡＦＰのインタビューに応じた。
　１３日早朝に同国東部海岸沿いのこの町からヨットで欧州へ向けて出発するグレタさんは、出発の準備が進む船の中で、「トランプ大統領はとても極端で、とても極端なことを言うから、ある意味それで人々が目を覚ましたと思う」と述べた。
　さらに「トランプ大統領が当選した時、私はとうとう人々が目を覚まさなければならない時が来たと思った」「私たちが単に今のまま続いていけば、何も起こらないように感じていた。だから多分、彼が助けてくれているとね」
　グレタさんは米国とカナダで数か月にわたるキャンペーンを行い、９月には国連の気候行動サミットにも出席。環境に負担とならない手段で欧州に戻るため支援を募ったところ、カタマラン（双胴船）で生後１１か月の男の赤ちゃんとともに生活し、冒険の記録をソーシャルメディアに投稿している若いオーストラリア人のカップルが支援を申し出た。
　このカップルはもともと、米国に冬の間滞在する予定だったが、グレタさんと父のスバンテさんを乗せ、全長１４メートルの「ラ・バガボンド」号で欧州へ戻ることになった。
　欧州への旅は気象条件にもよるが、２～３週間かかる。１２月２日～１３日にスペインで開催される国連気候変動枠組み条約第２５回締約国会議（ＣＯＰ２５）に参加するため、米国から５５００キロ離れたポルトガルへ向かう。
　ＣＯＰ２５はチリで開催される予定だったものの、政治的な混乱のため開催地が変更となり、グレタさんの旅のプランも変更を余儀なくされていた。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2019/11/14-08:28）

Swedish teen activist Greta Thunberg said Tuesday that US President Donald Trump's climate change denialism was so extreme that it had helped galvanize the movement to halt long term planetary warming.
She spoke in an interview with AFP on the eve of her departure from North America where she has spent almost three months.
He's so extreme and he says so extreme things, so I think people wake up by that in a way, the 16-year-old said from on board a sailboat preparing to depart from the East Coast town of Hampton, Virginia for Europe early Wednesday.
I thought when he got elected, now people will finally, now people must finally wake up, she continued.
Because it feels like if we just continue like now, nothing's going to happen. So maybe he is helping.
A young Australian couple have volunteered to aid her in her return journey.
Elayna Carausu, 26, and Riley Whitelum 35, live on their catamaran with their 11-month-old boy and document their adventures on social media, and responded to Greta's appeal for help with an environmentally friendly return trip to Europe.
They had originally planned to spend the winter in the United States but will now carry Greta and her father Svante Thunberg on their 14-meter (45 feet) catamaran, La Vagabonde.
After months of campaigning in the US and Canada, including an appearance at a key UN climate summit in September, which was the reason for her visit, she offered a lukewarm assessment on the impact.
It depends, she said, in her usual matter-of-fact way of speaking.
In one way, lots of things have changed, and lots of things have moved in the right direction, but also in a sense we have, we have gone a few more months without real action being taken and without people realizing the emergency we are in, said the high-schooler, who will return to her education next year.
The trip itself should last two to three weeks, depending on weather conditions. The young couple and their son Lenny (who has his own Instagram account) and the Thunbergs will be joined by professional British sailor Nikki Henderson who was called to lend a hand.
Their destination is Portugal, some 5,500 kilometers (3,400 miles) away, in order to participate in the COP 25 UN climate summit in Madrid, Spain from December 2 to December 13.
The venue was originally in Chile but was shifted because of political unrest, forcing Greta to change her travel plans.
If I get to the COP 25 in time, then I will participate in that, because I have received an invitation to do so, she said, wearing a windbreaker emblazoned with the words Unite for Science.
And then I will go home, I think.