A HASLEMERE woman starts a 200-mile walk from London to Paris on Friday aimed at encouraging world leaders to agree a fair, ambitious and binding deal at this month’s United Nations Climate Change Conference.

Jean Leston will join the “Pilgrimage2Paris”, organised by the Church of England in partnership with Christian organisations Tearfund, Christian Aid and CAFOD and supported by other organisations, churches and faiths in the UK.

The 200-mile pilgrimage begins at St Martin-in-the-Fields in central London and reaches the Sussex port of Newhaven on November 18.

From there, the pilgrims will take the ferry to Dieppe and continue walking to Paris, finishing in the French capital, on November 27, as negotiators from more than 190 nations gather for the start of the talks.

The pilgrims will hand in campaign petitions to Christiana Figueres, executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) the following day, before joining a mass climate march in Paris.

The conference comes as the climate change debate rages with NASA satellite data showing the Antarctic’s ice cap is actually growing – not shrinking – but so-called greenhouse gases are to set to rise for a record 30th year in a row.

Jean’s church, St Stephen’s Shottermill, is a supporter of Tearfund, a Christian international relief and development agency, working through local churches and partners across the globe.

Tearfund is a Christian relief and development agency and a member of the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC).

Jean said: “I am walking all the way to Paris to show our leaders and politicians people of faith really care about climate change.

She claimed: “These climate talks are a crucial moment in the fight for climate justice. People living in extreme poverty need a binding agreement from world leaders, to help them cope with the devastating effects of climate change they face daily.

“That’s why I’m stepping out in faith to stand up for those who have no voice.”

Paul Cook, Tearfund’s advocacy director claimed: “We help the world’s most vulnerable, and see all too frequently how a simple change in a weather pattern, like rainfall coming late, can send people into abject poverty, destroying their livelihoods, homes and families. Climate change is real and it is here now.

“In Paris, we want to see a global deal with leaders agreeing immediate actions to tackle this threat and an ambitious plan to cut carbon pollution from fossil fuels.”

Tearfund is also encouraging people to go along to one of the many climate marches across the UK, on November 28 and 29.

See www.tearfund.org/ paris or find out more about Jean’s trek at www.pilgrim age2 paris.org.uk