A poem - Walk2COP26
Saloni Chamberlain for Walk2COP26 – 05/01/2022
Intro
Have you heard the old proverb?
The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago,
the second-best time is now?
This same metaphor could be applied to our climate crisis
where the best time would’ve been twenty years ago,
before we started losing a football field of forest every second,
or the ice sheets warmed up and glaciers melted,
whilst Australia, Turkey, America, and the Amazon burnt out of control.
We’ve been running with scissors and now the countdown is on,
every tick of the clock, every snap of the fingers
sees another animal or plant wiped from the planet, our wildlife is dying, gone.
We can’t bring back the Great Barrier Reef,
but we can stop the clock on the species that we’re losing by the hour.
Instead, we need to start taking small steps, that lead to big changes
and undo decades of damage,
giving our biodiversity the space to breathe, to grow, to flourish.
So, the second-best time to save our home is now.
And for the first time, it feels like the whole world is listening.
Eyes open, ears open, hearts open.
Over 26 days, we walked 500 miles from London to Glasgow, the home of COP26.
We were joined by people across the globe walking in solidarity.
Our aim was to create the space for conversation and connection.
And to bring together people from across the world,
from across different sectors of society and backgrounds,
joining together as one to find the solution, for today and tomorrow.
To learn, and to act,
To turn down the thermostat,
To protect our planet.
This is our journey to COP26,
join us as we walk, talk, listen, act.
Outro
In October 2021, we walked 500 miles,
holding hundreds of climate conversations where we
brought together a cross section of society from students to NGOs,
business leaders to government officials.
Walking and talking, weaving a web of
connections, conversations, and relationships
across the entire globe.
As we travelled, we visited schools and hosted community events finding
open ears, open eyes, and open hearts,
ready to learn and ready to protect our home.
There’s no opting out, it’s time to dial up the urgency
if we’re going to turn down the temperature.
Walking to COP26 taught us more than we could have anticipated.
We learnt from other’s experiences and about physical endurance,
there’s some cuts that plasters and bandages can’t heal.
It all comes down to this, here’s what we’ve learnt:
collaboration is vital, we need to work together,
and it needs to be all of us, from all backgrounds,
from all corners of the world.
Everyone needs to be in because this affects everyone.
We’re no longer talking about the distant future,
climate chaos is the here and now.
Fires burning, ice caps melting and temperatures rising.
We need to put climate action at the heart of everything we do.
So, use your voice. Use your ears.
We need to speak up for what’s right and what needs to be done.
and we need to act now.
COP26 was our destination, but it’s not the end of our journey.
We walked, talked, and listened.
Now, it’s time to act and take on what we learnt.
It’s time for urgency, it’s time for big decisions
and an even bigger follow through.
In COP26, we wanted our world leaders to lead the way
but it has come down to us, as a collective,
pressing for change, pushing for more.
This is just the beginning.