Fridays for Future

"Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times, if one remembers to turn on the light" - Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

When you start delving into the realities of the climate crisis it is a bit of a rabbit hole. I finally found a name for the frustration and anguish I have been feeling since I returned from my Climate Pilgrimage - climate anxiety (thanks to Lorna Gold's book - Climate Generation for naming it). So when you are suffering from climate anxiety you may experience the following symptoms:

• You see smog everywhere - literally everywhere.
• You walk around wondering where all the trees have gone and are confused as to how you never noticed this before!
• When you are stuck on the M50 with cars backed up in either direction you feel like getting out of your car and screaming "Stop the madness!"
• Shopping in supermarkets has become a nightmare and you stare at plastic covered fruit and veg as if it were the plague.
• When a bumble bee appears (in January!) you find yourself actually apologising to it. 
• You think about how quickly nature would recover if we were not here.
• You want to shake people who think an 18 degree celcius day in February in Ireland is 'lovely'. Especially when it is followed closely by a 2 degree celcius day and snow and the general public don't think this is odd.
• You stand in the middle of a Dublin city centre street with banners that hearld the climate apocolypse.... and this turns out to be the best part of your week. 
• You wonder if your friends are secretly discussing whether or not you have gone nuts.
• You think of your Climate Pilgrimage buddies and remember that there is not really time for despair.  

As I have discovered, small actions give hope. Small actions have become the medicine for climate anxiety. Every Friday for the past 15 weeks, I've joined activists and students outside Dail Eireann (the Irish Parliament) from 1-2pm for the weekly climate strike, known globally as Fridays for Future. These strikes are inspired by the amazing legend that is Greta Thunberg, a 16 year old climate activist from Sweden. Greta has been leading a climate strike from school since August 2018. She has delivered a powerful Ted Talk and delivered kick ass speaches to the UN Climate Conference (COP24) and the World Economic Forum in Davos. What is so inspiring about Greta is her unique ability to tell it like it is. There is no bullshit, no trying to please the adults, no sucking up to politicians. Greta cuts right to the chase. At COP24 she blew me away with the line: "I am not here to ask you to change, because for 24 years you have done nothing. I am here to tell you that change is coming whether you like it or not". You can see her full speech here. It's three minutes that everyone should watch.

In Davos at the WEF Greta said to world economists: "I don't want your hope. I want you to panic. Because our house is on fire." Greta has been joined worldwde by thousands of young people. In Belgium a few weeks ago 70,000 students marched at the weekly Fridays for Future event. The Belgian climate minister was forced to resign as he criticised these young people and accused them of being part of a left wing conspiracy.

Our own strike on Fridays on Kildare St started with 8 people, led by Lorna Gold and Jim Scheer, and has swelled to 120. But the big one is this Friday, March 15th. Thousands of young people all over Ireland will join with the International Climate Strike - a world wide day of action for Climate Justice. It is the most hope-filled movement that I have ever experienced.

Each week students teach us a new chant and new people join us with their colourful banners and epic slogans. Climate Strikes have sprung up in Maynooth, Cork, Kilkenny, Tralee and Galway over the past few months. Saoi has been striking outside Cork City Hall for the past 9 weeks with a sign that has become famous: "The emperor has no clothes", a great line from the Hans Christian Anderson story, now used to criticise the majority who don't speak up for fear of looking stupid. Only the young boy in the story would shout the truth. We probably all learned the song in primary school: "The King is in the altogether...."

Saoi O'Connor outside Cork City Hall

There are marches planned in cities all over the world on March 15th and if that does not open the ears of politicians worldwide take comfort in the fact that the majority of the young people marching next Friday will be of voting age in 2/3 years time. There is no political will to solve the climate crisis because it is not an issue for the general public or if it is an issue for people, they are not expressing that concern to politicians loudly enough. There is clearly an awakening. But with that awakening comes a feeling of helplessness. How can ordinary people have an impact when the issue involves huge fossil fuel corporations and government policy? For this week at least, here's what you can do:

• Everything you need to know about March 15th can be found here: Stop Climate Chaos
• Support the Climate Strike on March 15th by attending your nearest event. 
• If you can't attend you can support it by sharing information on social media.
• If there is no event in your locality, start your own, wherever you are. Take some pictures and share it under the hashtag #fridaysforfuture You can also add your event to the Ireland strike map
  

  

  Dublin Friday for Future Strike

• Help to make banners/posters for your local schools who are involved. For example, this Wednesday evening (March 13th) in the Patagonia store in Dublin there is a banner making workshop.
• Irish students last week made their demands to the Irish government in Dail Eireann. This included a demand for the government to come clean to the public about the seriousness of this climate crisis and to "pull the emergency break". You can write to your TD expressing your serious concern on Ireland's shocking climate record and include these demands which can be found here: School Strike Demands to Government

For those who might criticse these students who are participating in Fridays For Future and not in school consider the following:

• Saoi O'Connor (16), who leads the Cork city strike, tweets to..."the people who’ve accused me of mitching off school, City hall is a two hour bus ride from my house, I get up three hours earlier than I usually would for school to get into the city for 9am. I sit outside City Hall for 7hrs, sometimes with others, sometimes alone!"
• Some of those who attend the Dublin strike weekly have long bus journeys, put huge effort into their banners and chants and could be amusing themselves in other ways if they really wanted to mitch off school.
• Before anyone criticises these amazing young people they might ask themselves when was the last time they themselves took an action against an injustice in our society. This movement is a beautiful sign of a generation of young people engaging in political action. 
• Greta questions the purpose of going to school when older generations refuse to listen to the world's scientific community.

I know where I'll be on March 15th. "Listen Leo Listen, Climate Action Now". Other hits are below. Finally a video that everyone needs to see this weekend, called Seven can be viewed here: SEVEN

What do we want? Climate justice.

When do we want it? Now

 

We're gonna go to our TDs        

We're gonna go to our TDs

We're gonna go to Dail Eireann

We're gonna go to Dail Eireann

1...2...3...4

1...2...3...4

Climate's what we're fighting for

Climate's what we're fighting for

I said Hey, I said Ho,

Fossil Fuels have got to go....

 

 No more coal and no more oil

No more coal and no more oil

Keep the carbon in the soil

Keep the carbon in the soil

"We are unstoppable another world is possible..."

“Yet all is not lost. Human beings, while capable of the worst, are also capable of rising above themselves, choosing again what is good, and making a new start, despite their mental and social conditioning. We are able to take an honest look at ourselves, to acknowledge our deep dissatisfaction, and to embark on new paths to authentic freedom. No system can completely suppress our openness to what is good, true and beautiful, or our God-given ability to respond to his grace at work deep in our hearts. I appeal to everyone throughout the world not to forget this dignity which is ours. No one has the right to take it from us. (Laudato Si, Care for Our Common Home, 205)”

The Climate Pilgrims Part 2 - Joanna Sustento

While on an epic 1,000km journey from Italy to Poland as part of The Climate Pilgrimage 2018, I was privilaged to meet so many inspiring climate activists from different parts of the world. In these posts I share about them and our journey in the hope that they inspire you as much as they inspired me to do more to avert the biggest catastrophy of our time.

Joanna Sustento getting ready for the COP24 Climate Protest, Katowich

Joanna Sustento is from the Philippines and is a survivor of Super Typhoon Haiyan, the strongest storm ever to make landfall which destroyed Tacloban city in November 2013. Joanna lost many of her loved ones in that storm including her parents, her brother, her sister-in-law and three year old nephew. Joanna is an amazing young woman who has dedicated her life to climate action. She describes herself as a climate activist and story-teller, sharing with others the events of the night Haiyan struck Tacloban city, how she managed to survive and the devastating loss of her family. It was such a privilage to walk with Joanna and get to know her. Joanna believes in the power of story and as I've mentioned before I always felt that we were carrying a very sacred narrative with us on this pilgrimage in bringing these climate stories into the homes, parishes and schools wherever we landed on this walk. 

People often feel overwhelmed with the statistics and scientific reports on climate change. Ultimately it is the human stories which will bring about a conversion of heart. Joanna often shared with us and those she met that, "You don't have to have a powerful position to have a voice...because of my story and the story of our community I will be able to contribute to something global. I will be able to put a human face on an abstract concept that is climate change... I found power in that." Joanna speaks to ordinary people encouraging them to do whatever they can: "Everyone of us, we all have our own story, we all have the potential to contribute to the change we want to see."

While on our little walk across Europe in the middle of winter, we crossed through an area of Poland called Silesia. It is a famous region known for its coal mining towns. 80% of Poland's energy is fuelled by coal at present. I have experienced smog in cities in India when I lived there, but there was no comparison to the disgusting air quality we experienced during those days in Silesia. With the extremely cold weather, the air was thick with smog. The climate pilgrims wore vests which read: "No future in coal" and we were advised on the history of the region, what to expect, how to approach the coal issue and so on. To our pleasant surprise we received a very warm welcome in those towns. In Rybnik we were greeted by the Mayor who presented us with gifts and we shared a beautiful meal together. Later that same day at a Mass in the local church, the priest's homily covered the enormity of the crisis the world now faces and he noted how it was ironic that we should arrive in his parish on the feast of St. Barbara, the patron saint of coal miners. While sitting in a cafe the following day I was shocked when smog was entering inside the cafe, making it really uncomfortable to breath. This stuff was everywhere. The thick smoke billowed out of the houses everywhere we walked. It was choking. Statistically breathing the air in these towns is the equivalent of smoking 7 cigarettes per day. I wondered how on earth people could raise families there knowing that figure. Yet, we had to remember that this was their livelihoods. Families in Rybnik and Imelin and many other coal mining towns have been mining for generations. I wondered how Joanna felt in those towns, knowing what the fossil fuel industry had cost her. When we visited schools there, I wondered if young people were aware of how dangerous their air was. 

Poster from school children in Imelin, Silesia "Clean air"

In Rybnik we were hosted by parishioners and my host had been a coal miner for 28 years. I could not even imagine what it would be like to work underground for that length of time. He was now retired, working in his local parish, and genuinely interested in our journey and our purpose. In Rybnik we also met students who were studying renewable energy. Some remarked to us that they know money will be in renewables in the future; whatever their motivation it was heartening to see the shift of focus away from coal. The town of Imelin, one day out from Katowich, is a coal mining community which is now campaigning against the industry. The people were assured that the mine would not be expanded, however that is changing and the proposed plans for this particular mine involve drilling underneath the houses in the town. The houses are neither built for such a project nor are the people willing to allow this to happen. So for them, they are campaigning against an industry that has sustained generations of their family members' livelihoods. 


Just transition is a key word in the climate debate. It simply means that those who are dependant on the fossil fuel industry for their livelihood should also be treated justly and fairly. They too, in many ways, are victims of this crisis. A just transition would mean for Polish miners to be retrained and employed in the renewable sector. Communities like these should not suffer. I tie this in with Joanna's story because as we were walking through these towns and villages I wondered what it felt like to see the amount of pollution being fired into the atmosphere, knowing what it cost some of our pilgrim family. 

Coal disaplyed in the floor at UN Climate Conference, COP24

Once we arrived at the COP in Katowich, it was no different there. The air quality was just as bad and many told us that nearby coal mines had been switched off  'for maintenance' during the COP. Convenient. Walking through the COP24 building utterly disappointed me. This COP was hijacked by the coal industry. Six coal companies were the main sponsors of the COP. Inside the building there was coal on display in the floors covered by glass and for sale as jewellery, 'a souvenir from Silesia'. For Joanna, this was a slap in the face. I was so upset for her as walked around that building, surrounded by politicians who didn't care and fossil fuel companies who were basically rubbing her nose in it. 

Coal jewellary at COP24

Joanna was interviewed by Democracy Now during COP24. Here interview is below. I invite you to take time to listen to her story and share it with whomever you can.  

On our final day of walking it was a 20km hike into Katowich from Imelin. My left foot, swollen and aching, suggested I should rest and call it a day. But there was no way I was missing our final day of walking on this pilgrimage. I strapped it up, got two walking poles and pushed on through the day. In moments when I thought I might not make it, Joanna's story kept me going and Joanna's story will keep me on this climate activist road for some time. That is the power of story. 


Finally, my favourite Joanna memory from the pilgrimage will always be the day we built a snowman in Katowich. This was Joanna's first snowman attempt; an Irish-Filippina collaborative climate action project. The first of many, I hope. You are an amazing person Joanna and I was so very lucky to meet you and share this journey with you!

"From the biggest of tragedies, hope can be found" - Joanna Sustento

"Some forms of pollution are part of people’s daily experience. Exposure to atmospheric pollutants produces a broad spectrum of health hazards, especially for the poor, and causes millions of premature deaths. […] Technology, which, linked to business interests, is presented as the only way of solving these problems, in fact proves incapable of seeing the mysterious network of relations between things and so sometimes solves one problem only to create others." (Pope Francis, Laudato Si, 20) 

In Rybnik, Silesia, the Climate Pilgrims meet students studying renewable energy

The Pilgrim Sandwich - with Joanna at its centre

Joanna presenting the pilgrim prayer ribbons and her story to Patricia Espinosa
 (UNFCC Executive Secretary) at COP24. Beside her are Yeb Sano (Greenpeace SE Asia); Tomas Insua (Global Catholic Climate Movement) & Mons Duffe (head of Vatican Delegation to COP24) 

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.

Thoughts on Epiphany: “We observed his star at its rising”

The Wise Men were probably astronomers and philosophers but most importantly of all they were ‘seekers’, looking to the skies for something that would bring them closer to God. They would have been familiar with the prophecy about a new King who would be a very powerful leader and may have been watching the skies for years, waiting for the right astronomical sign which would foretell His birth. Many astronomers have since tracked the skies from that time period to try to identify what ‘star’ the Wise Men could have seen. Some have identified Jupiter, not a star, which in 6BC was following that correct trajectory across the sky over many months. One must admire the faithful and determined journey that these Wise Men set out on, a journey which involved many risks. The Wise Men represent all peoples of all cultures and faiths who make such journeys in search of God. 

We often look for signs in our own lives, especially when we are looking for answers. Let us have the courage to take the risk and move out of our comfort zones in search of Jesus just as the Wise Men did. They had no idea of what awaited them but the Gospel speaks of their delight and joy when they arrived to that place. 

“We often make do with looking at the ground…I wonder if we still know how to look up at the sky? Do we know how to dream, to long for God, to expect the newness he brings, or do we let ourselves be swept along by life, like dry branches before the wind?”(Pope Francis).