Walkers find comfort in support of rural folk

Naderev “Yeb” Saño set out to raise awareness about climate change adaptation but is amazed to find that farmers, fishermen and youngsters knew more about its effects on their communities.

After trudging for five days in their “people’s walk,” the climate change commissioner and his team are finding comfort in the support of rural folk who share not only food but also experience with storms.

Saño and a core team of 10 activists, nongovernment organizations (NGOs) and Church workers have embarked on a 1,000-kilometer journey to Tacloban City, which was leveled by powerful Supertyphoon “Yolanda” (international name: Haiyan) that left 7,300 dead in November last year.

They left Rizal Park in Manila on Oct. 2 and hope to reach Ground Zero in 40 days, on

Nov. 8, the first anniversary of the typhoon’s landfall on the city.

“Their reception has been overwhelming. We were met on the road by local officials—of different political colors— NGOs, labor groups, farmers,” Saño said by phone from Tiaong town, Quezon province, on Monday, Day 5 of their walk.

Local churches, schools and local government units have provided for their sleeping quarters.

In their stops, Saño and his team, including climate change activist Rodne Galicha (a member of Climate Reality Project founded by Nobel laureate Al Gore), would give talks on the threats of a warming climate to an archipelago like the Philippines in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

Saño, however, has made a personal discovery: The rural folk are feeling the effects of climate change closer to home in the form of storms that have gotten fiercer every year, dwindling catch and drier lands.

“We realized in the last five days that we don’t need to raise the awareness of people on climate change. People know about it. The only question is: What can we do about it?” he said.

That’s why, after their talk, the team has made it a point to leave behind a climate change and disaster resilience tool kit to serve as a guide on how a town or a barangay (village) could plan to adapt to the effects of a warming climate and prepare for disasters.

“But there’s one thing that we want people to understand: Climate change is something that humans have caused and all of us have the power to turn things around and give our people a fighting chance,” he said.

The main goal of the walk is to call for global action on climate change ahead of the United Nations climate change talks in Peru in December, according to Saño, the country’s lead negotiator at climate change talks.

The talks in Peru are seen as crucial in forging a new global agreement by 2015 that would limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius over pre-Industrial Revolution levels.

“We need the biggest, most powerful governments to take serious and concrete ambitious actions. The biggest fear is not meeting the deadline [for a new pact] by 2015,” said Saño, 40, who made a tearful call for global action on climate change in talks in Poland last year.

On the home front, the walk aims to raise awareness on climate change adaptation among local government units, the commissioner said.

On the road, carrying basic necessities plus a solar-powered charger for their electronic gadgets, the team also documents the narratives of ordinary folk affected by changing climate.

“This is a call for unity and about spreading the message of hope. There’s hope if we’re in this together,” said Saño, a former triathlete, cyclist and scuba diver.