This is how the idea to have a tour through many countries came up, under the theme “climate justice”, sharing testimonies of people affected by this world crisis, and putting the social and human impacts of this issue on the agenda.

The tour will start in Gent, Belgium, on October 27th, and will continue in Leuven (28th), Brussels (29th), Ostend (30th), Antwerp (31st), Herzele (November 1st) and back to Brussels three days later.

They will also visit Barcelona, Spain, from November 4th to November 6th, and then to Austria (Graz, Carinthia and Vienna).

In some of these cities, the film Climaxi will be screened, which was filmed in Belgium, France and Brazil by Uilekot and Victoria Deluxe. There will be local artists such as Filip De Boda and Anke Hitjens, and also Luciano Brunet, from the National Institute of Colonization and Agrarian Reform from Brazil and Pelenise Alofa, member of Pacific Calling Partnership from Kiribati, a country threatened by the rise of the level of the Pacific Ocean as a consequence of climate change.

The organizations involved are Friends of the Earth Flandes and Brussels, Friends of the Earth Spain, Global 2000 (FoE Austria), Uilekot, Victoria Deluxe, , vzw Vrede, Masereelfonds, Klimaat en Sociale Rechtvaardigheid, the Greens of the European Parliament, Pacific Calling Partnership, INCRA from Brazil, Climate Justice International Tribunal, Ecologistas en Acción, Belgium-Brazilian Committee, and Klimabündnis. Real World Radio will cover the activity.

Héctor Pistaché, from Friends of the Earth Belgium, and one of the promoters of this initiative, believes that “unfortunately” in the countries of the North, which are the most responsible for global warming, there isn´t much knowledge of what is happening in the communities of the south.

However, Pistache also said that the situation of many Europeans is sometimes harder. “In Belgium, access to electric power is limited, and people only have one card worth five or ten Euros for their homes, and after it runs out, they are left with no electricity”, he said. The activist aims at closing the gap between the affected communities of the North and of the South.

Another goal of the tour is to take the views of the civil society to decision makers, and that is why the film Climaxi and testimonies will be presented to the European Parliament, trying to show how the poorest sectors are the most affected by the impacts of climate change, and at the same time the least able to denounce their problems.

Photo: http://blog.cat.org.uk