Arnold Schwarzenegger goes cycling with 'friend and hero' Greta Thunberg
The day after 16-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg met Leonardo DiCaprio, who described her as “a leader of our time”, her effort to highlight the global climate crisis has seen her meet with another Hollywood star – Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The actor and former Republican Party governor of California posted a photograph on instagram of him cycling with Ms Thunberg in Santa Monica, who he described as a “hero”.
The teenager has been using low-carbon forms of transport to travel from Sweden to Chile to eventually reach the COP25 climate summit, but has now asked for assistance in travelling to Spain, as mass anti-government protests in Santiago forced Chilean authorities to cancel the event, which will now go ahead in Madrid at the beginning of December.
“It turns out I’ve travelled half around the world, the wrong way. Now I need to find a way to cross the Atlantic in November … If anyone could help me find transport I would be so grateful,” Ms Thunberg tweeted on 1 November.
It was fantastic to see my friend and one of my heroes @GretaThunberg last week and go on a bike ride around Santa Monica together and I was so pumped to introduce her to my daughter Christina. Keep inspiring, Greta! pic.twitter.com/3Q6ZuInJHY
— Arnold (@Schwarzenegger)
In August, Ms Thunberg arrived in New York for the UN Climate Summit after sending 14 days crossing the Atlantic in a racing yacht.
Her powerful speech at the meeting made headlines around the world after she told world leaders, “you have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words.”
Their meeting this week is not the first time Schwarzenegger has met Ms Thunberg. In May she attended the Austrian World Summit in Vienna, organised by Schwarzenegger’s environmental organisation #R20.
At the summit, Schwarzenegger addressed climate sceptics, saying “We are asking you to stop lying to the people about climate change and pollution and to offer them solutions instead of bulls***.”
Speaking to the audience, Ms Thunberg said: “We need to call it what it is: an emergency. We children are not leaders, nor are the scientists, but many of you here are. People listen to you, but most of you have failed to take this responsibility. We young people are waking up and we promise, we won’t let you get away with it anymore.”
In September, Schwarzenegger offered Ms Thunberg the loan of a Tesla Model 3 so she could travel using the electric-powered vehicle through the US and Canada.
The meeting between the teenage activist and the 72-year-old Terminator star has apparently upset some factions within his fanbase.
One person responded to Schwarzenegger’s post on Instagram writing: “I used to be a huge fan. Now I can see how you [are] being used as a puppet by a bunch of elitists. This is a guy came from a small town in Austria to [become] the world’s most famous bodybuilder and actor. This reminds me of the story of Icarus. Very sad.”
“More proof the only man left in Hollywood is Clint Eastwood,” wrote another on a MailOnline story about the meeting.
