Catholic pilgrims travelling from the Vatican in the Polish town of Imielin arrived on Thursday to hold a protest against climate change.
The group - named 'The Climate Pilgrims' - staged the event 20 kilometres away from Katowice, where the most important U.N. environmental conference since the Paris 2015 deal on climate change is underway.
More than 190 countries are meeting in the coal-mining city through December 14 to hammer out rules that will enable the Paris accord to be put into practice from 2020, and spur countries to strengthen their current climate action plans.
Travelling across six countries and 1,500 kilometres since October 4, the 15 pilgrims from across the world joined hands with a local group fighting a coal mine extension by the European Union's largest mining company, PGG.
Delivering a message from Pope Francis, the pilgrims and local activists attended a mass before staging a protest outside.
After leaving his diplomatic position in 2015 to join climate activism, the former lead climate negotiator for the Philippines, Yeb Sano, led the pilgrimage.
One activist and pilgrim, Joanna Susteno, lost five family members to typhoon Haiyan.
"Ever since that event, the event that changed my life, I made it my mission to really share the story of my community and how we are directly impacted by the effects of climate change," she said.
Local activists are worried about the effect coal-mine expansion will have on their homes in addition to the local climate and health.
The group will attend the climate talks in Katowice to highlight various climate-related crises around the world.
Autor: gf / Źródło: TVN24 International, Reuters