The Climate Pilgrims Part 1

AG Saño

While the climate pilgrimage is over, in many ways it is only beginning. There were so many things I wanted to write about on the road, but there was little time. Now, I've loads of time! So here are a few more reflections in the hope that my ramblings might offer some inspiration to others and help us all to continue to stay in the climate 'hope space'. On the climate pilgrimage I was blessed to meet such inspiring people from all parts of the world. I have learned so much from them and I know that they will all continue to inspire me many years from now.  So here, in no particular order, I will share a little of their powerful stories.  

AG Saño is from the Philippines. He is a marine conservationist, photographer, street artist, climate activist and from what I can gather has many different roles and projects up his sleeve. Together with his brother Yeb Saño, they started the Climate Pilgrimage in the Philippines in 2014, walking from Manilla to Tacloban city (1,000km) to commemorate the first anniversary of Super Typhoon Haiyan. They also walked from Rome to Paris (1,500km) in 2015 for the UN Climate Summit, COP21.  AG is a survivor of  Super Typhoon Haiyan, the  strongest storm to ever make landfall in recorded human

AG painting a mural at our host parish in Trieste, Italy

history. Haiyan slammed into the Philippines in November 2013 killing 15,000 people in the space of two hours. Haiyan was so strong because it had travelled over waters in the Pacific Ocean which were 0.8 degrees warmer than usual. AG lost his best friend Agit in the storm. Agit's wife and 3 year old son also died. In the days following Haiyan, AG helped to collect the dead bodies from the streets of the devastated city of Tacloban. He went days without food. AG walked the climate pilgrimage in the hope that the world would listen to the struggles that the Philippines, and millions of people worldwide, face as a result of Climate Change; these stories need to be heard. In every school, parish, community, town and city that we stopped in on this pilgrimage, AG shared his story. He is an extremely talented street artist and painted powerful murals en route. The rest of us would help with the colouring in, leaving our climate justice footprint behind as the pilgrimage moved on.

AG's mural in our host parish, Trieste, Italy

Yeb Saño is the founder of The Climate Pilgrimage. Yeb worked for many years as the Filipino Climate Negotiator to the UN. He has attend many COPs (UN Climate Conferences) and probably his most famous moment was in Warsaw in 2013. As Typhoon Haiyan devastated Tacloban city, Yeb made an emotional speech at COP19 for all those whose voices could no longer be heard. I encourage you to take four minutes to watch this powerful speech:

On the pilgrimage, Yeb always reminded us that "our physical destination is Katowich and COP24, however our real destination is the minds and hearts of all those we meet on this road." Yeb is now the Executive Director of Greenpeace South East Asia, our pilgrimage DJ and Guru on the road. 

Yeb Saño at the Climate Protest at COP24, Katowich, Poland, December 2018

Climate Litigation:
Yeb & AG, together with other Haiyan survivors, are part of a group who are taking 47 companies, the Big Polluters, to the human rights courts to investigate their contribution to the climate crisis. You can read more about their case here: "Communities seeking climate justice through the power of law".  

A big learning for me on this pilgrimage was that 90 fossil fuel companies in the world are responsible for 70% of the carbon emissions which fuel the climate crisis. Yes, you read that correctly! 90 companies! So while your government is quite happy for you to sit at home and feel guilty about your contribution to the climate crisis, they are continuting to prop up the fossil fuel industry with huge subsidies and continue exploration for fossil fuels. While one would think there is nothing we can do about this, AG and Yeb are part of a movement which aims to hold these fossil fuel companies accountable for their actions. And they are not the only ones.  Many similar cases are taking place worldwide. In the United States a group of young people are taking the Trump Administration to court for backing out of the Paris Climate Agreement. They argue that the US government are in violation of protecting children's rights to a secure future. It is an amazing story which you can follow and engage with here: Our Children's Trust. In the Netherlands recently another successful climate litigation story  emerged and you can read about it here: "Netherlands ordered to increase emissions cuts in historic ruling that puts ‘all world governments on notice".

Climate Case Ireland, led by Friends of the Irish Environment, were recently in court taking the Irish Government to task on its climate inaction. Over four days in the High Courts a litany of inaction on the part of our government was heard by the hundreds of people who crammed into Court 29 in support of the case. Ireland's climate policy is weak and we are per capita one of the biggest polluters in Europe. Our emissions are set to increase in coming years not decrease despite the Divestment Bill being passed in 2018. It was a proud moment to be present in Court 29 during these proceedings in January 2019. People of all ages attended, from toddlers to teenagers, university students to the older and wiser members of the public. You can read about the Irish Case at Climate Case Ireland and give your support to this historical legal action. The verdict is pending in the coming weeks. 

Climate Case Ireland supporters outside the Fourt Courts January 2019

Supporting such cases with our signatures or our presence are all ways we can be in solidarity with people in countries like the Philippines and the generations to come who will feel the full affects of this crisis. It is inspiring to see what small groups of people are doing even when world leaders are failing them. When one thinks about the climate crisis it seems too huge and overwhelming for one person to affect change. Yet it is possible. AG and Yeb Saño and all those involved in such campaigns show me that another world is possible despite the odds. They have certainly transformed my views on climate and have helped me to SEE more clearly the faces of those that are right now directly affected. The climate pilgrimage continues to encourage me to do whatever you can, where you are.

"There is a problem in the atmosphere, but the deeper problem lies in our own hearts"

Yeb Saño. 

"We know that technology based on the use of highly polluting fossil fuels - especially coal, but also oil and , to a lesser degree, gas - needs to be progressively replaced without delay." 

(Pope Francis, Laudato Si, 165)

A mural painted by AG in a primary school in Imelin, Poland, in the heart of the coal mining region of Silesia during The Climate Pilgrimage 2018.