Worlds apart: raising climate change awareness from Polar regions and Pacific nations to Paris

BANGKOK, Thailand— With barely five months to go, the world will define a new global climate change deal in Paris. Two climate advocates, both from different side of the planet are now embarking on historic journeys, one on bike and one on foot. But these young men have the same goal: to raise public awareness on climate issues and push for more political will on policymakers to ensure a just, successful and meaningful climate deal in Paris in December.

 

Daniel Price, is a British environmental scientist and founder and director of “Pole to Paris” project. He is currently traveling from the South Pole region to Paris by bicycle to draw attention to the climate change crisis.

 

 

Naderev “Yeb” Sano, is a Filipino leader of the climate awareness movement, the People’s Pilgrimage, and is a former Philippine Climate Change Commissioner. He is leading various civil society groups to walk several miles on many continents, culminating with a 60-mile journey from typhoon-hit Tacloban City in the Philippines, to Tuvalu, Australia and many other countries ending in Paris.

 

 

Pole to Paris

 

Price started his 17,000-km bike journey with his friends to build public understanding on climate change. For him, the polar regions are the first to suffer the more obvious effects of human interference with the climate system, saying that these changes are simply the most visible now.

 

 

During the Regional Forum on Climate Change held at AIsian Institute of Technology in Bangkok last week, Price lamented on how little the public know about the scale of the climate problem and much less, how few are aware of the importance of a legally binding climate deal by December despite information from science.

 

After a decade of studying about climate change and completing his research on how to monitor using satellite images the rapidly disappearing polar caps in the Antarctic from rising temperature,

 

“Publishing climate research is not enough if the public cannot understand the scale of the problem and if policy makers are not quick enough to implement a legally binding climate agreement,” Price told the Philippine EnviroNews.

 

He explained that the Pole to Paris project is an outreach campaign that aims to bring global awareness on climate change by going to communities and in turn, bringing science closer to the public.

 

In conducting his research in the Antarctic poles, Price notes the significant change in the ice cover and how the melting poles serve as the first warning for the planet in terms of the impacts of climate change.

 

Price said the actual cycling begins in Australia, then continues to Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Bangladesh, China, Central Asia and into Europe.

 

 

Price already cycled with ministers in three Southeast Asian countries to document how communities are affected by climate change, as well as renewable energy efforts that pave way for low-carbon development, especially in emerging economies.

 

“We want to capture the average people and discuss about a meaningful action and political will. We want tot tell stories on climate change and inform people about its importance,” Price said.

 

“The journey—by bike and foot—is a story that people can engage with,” he adds.

 

Price added: “The environment is foundation of everything else. And today, we only have one planet to call home so we must do everything because we don’t have much time.”

 

Walk the talk

 

Sano, on the other hand, said during the Warsaw climate talks in 2013 that “the climate crisis is madness.”

 

He is now embarking on a climate walk to bring awareness to the “moral aspect of climate change.”

 

The former climate envoy to the United Nations talks turned spiritual ambassador at Our Voices, is leading a group of interfaith leaders to urge for a climate deal. He started to lead civil society groups and religious leaders in visiting vulnerable countries such as the Pacific island nations of Vanuatu and will arrive in Paris in time for the December climate summit.

 

 

In 2014, Sano embarked on a 40-day journey along Typhoon Haiyan-hit areas in the Philippines, finally ended the walk at the ground zero in Tacloban City and seen how communities are coping a year after the devastating typhoon.

 

Beyond Paris climate talks

 

At the Paris climate talks, world leaders have a chance to start a new path–according to Price and Sano — A path that will allow the world to avert the most disastrous impacts of climate change.

 

“The science is clear, and getting clearer with the latest UN scientific reports. But we should not let these scenarios hinder us because we can turn the challenge into opportunity: We have the tools today and we just need to activate the political will to act,” Price said.

 

Sano, on the other hand, stressed that climate change “Is the single defining issue of today’s generation.”

 

“ It is crucial that we raise our voices and urgently act in addressing the climate crisis. We hope the world leaders hear our call for action,” Sano said.

 

photo credit:UN, Sano, AValmero, IVAbano

edited by: Imelda Abano