Climate activist Greta Thunberg says she feels “energized” after spending three weeks crossing the Atlantic in a catamaran.
The Swedish teen arrived Tuesday in the Portuguese capital of Lisbon on her way to the U.N. Climate Change Conference taking place in Madrid.
Thunberg told dozens of reporters and activists under bright sunshine on a Lisbon quayside she plans to keep pressing political leaders to make climate change their top priority.
She wants senior officials gathered in Madrid to “finally understand the urgency” of climate change and cooperate internationally.
Thunberg says: “People are underestimating the force of angry kids.”
She says she travelled by catamaran instead of plane to “send a message it is possible” to live a sustainable lifestyle.
Some 20 activists cut off traffic in central Madrid and staged a brief theatrical performance to protest climate change.
Members of the international group called Extinction Rebellion held up a banner in Russian that read: “Climate Crisis. To speak the truth. To take action immediately.”