In May, a group of pilgrims will arrive in Ottawa on a mission to save the planet, and you are invited to join them. The Eastern Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church is organizing a pilgrimage by bicycle from Montreal to Ottawa to encourage support for the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty. For millennia, people have sought spiritual transcendence through the act of traveling long distances by foot. This pilgrimage is being undertaken to encourage a timely and just transition away from fossil fuels, which are a principal cause of climate change.
Etienne Eason is the driving force behind the pilgrimage. Growing up, Etienne watched with despair as governments failed to live up to their commitment to limit global warming, made at the Paris climate conference in 2015. Despair is justified. Global emissions from the burning of fossil fuels, a main cause of global warming, are higher today than they were in 2015. Yet, one of the first actions taken by Mark Carney, as our new Prime Minister, was to eliminate the carbon tax, considered the most effective tool in reducing our emissions. The record wildfires in 2013, which covered Ottawa and Montreal in choking smoke, were a personal call to Etienne to become a climate activist. Through action there is hope.
The global campaign for a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty was launched about eight years ago as a response to shortcomings in the Paris climate agreement. In that agreement, governments committed to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, which is considered to be tolerable from the standpoint of survival of the human species. Last year, global temperatures broke through the 1.5-degree guardrail. However, the Paris climate agreement failed to identify the need to reduce the use of fossil fuels.
The fossil fuel treaty calls for an immediate halt to the expansion of fossil fuel use – no new pipelines or powerplants – and an equitable phasing out of existing uses. The treaty had been endorsed by 16 countries, 3953 organizations, and over one million individuals. Signatories include the Anglican Church of Canada and the City of Ottawa, but not yet the Canadian government.
The Pilgrimage for the Planet consists of a two-day bike trek from Montreal to Ottawa followed by a series of events in Ottawa. Pilgrims will
leave Montreal on Saturday, May 10, stay overnight at a church in Vankleek Hill. A reception is planned at St. Paul’s University to welcome their arrival in Ottawa Sunday afternoon, May 11. Participants will present the case for signing onto the Fossil Fuel Non=Proliferation Treaty to the federal government in the morning on Monday, May 12.
Anyone can participate. Best of all, you do not have to make the full Montreal-Ottawa pilgrimage to take part. Organizers are working on a variety of local walking pilgrimages, and even an online pilgrimage that will follow progress along the Montreal-Ottawa route. Visit the event website (below) for more information and to sign up as a participant.
Websites for more information:
Pilgrimage for the Planet – https://easternsynod.org/pilgrimage-for-the-planet/
Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty – https://fossilfueltreaty.org/
Saint John, Innisville — Deanery of the Southwest