Filipinos join Lenten fast for climate justice

Dozens of Filipino Catholics are joining a global Lenten fast to call on world leaders to act on climate change.  Participants, meeting in Manila March 11 to prepare for the day of fasting March 27, said their action is meant to call attention to the need for immediate action in the wake of worsening natural disasters. The March 27 fast is part of a larger campaign coordinated by the Global Catholic Climate Movement. People in 50 countries have adopted a one-day rotating fast during Lent to call attention to the need to address climate change and protect the environment.

"(Climate change) is not merely an environmental problem, it is a moral problem," Yeb Sano, a Catholic and a member of the Philippine Climate Change Commission, told the orientation meeting of fast participants. Sano pointed to the recently released Natural Hazards Risk Atlas developed by the risk assessment firm Verisk Maplecroft, which found eight of the 10 cities most vulnerable to natural disasters were in the Philippines. He told Catholic News Service he was happy to be part of the fast because citizens "cannot afford to wait" around for world leaders to begin addressing climate change. "The U.N. is not designed to solve climate change," Sano said. "It will take global citizens."  (Source: CNS)