Climate activist stages protest on Arctic ice floe

Craig, also known as "Birdgirl" online, is one of a young generation of activists who have gown up in the looming shadow of climate breakdown and are tired of waiting for the grown-ups to solve the issue.

As a child Craig grew up watching birds in a small town in south west England. She started a blog chronicling the ones she's seen and has tens of thousands of followers online.

Environmental campaign group Greenpeace invited Craig onto their research ship to help give the 18-year-old a platform to spread her message about the climate crisis.

Climate data shows the Arctic is one of the fastest changing ecosystems on the planet.

Getting to the ice floe involved a two-week quarantine in Germany, followed by a three week voyage to the edge of the sea ice, 82 degrees north.

For Craig the toughest part of the journey were the crossings in open seas, when huge waves pounded the sides of the boat, lurching it and its inhabitants from side to side.

"In a way ship life's been really interesting for me to adjust to," said Craig, "you're up at seven thirty, doing chores at eight."

Craig said those who dismiss youth protests as the collective rebellious phase by this generation of teenagers are wrong. She wants those in power to stop treating climate change as a low-priority issue, raised only to appease "the lefties in the corner".

"It's everything now and it has to be treated like that," she said.