Paul Connor is a 29 year old climate activist and university student currently studying Philosophy and Psychology at the University of Melbourne. He fasted for 44 days as part of the international Climate Justice Fast for Copenhagen COP15 action (see: http://www.climatejusticefast.com/about-us/ ).
Paul Connor on the end of a 44 day fast as part of the international, November-December 2009 Climate Justice Fast to bring attention to the need for effective world action at the December 2009 Copenhagen COP15 Climate Conference against climate catastrophe (December 2009): “Today, my only prayer is that one day we will look back upon the current period of history and we will remember a time when the threat of climate change rendered our future uncertain. We will remember feeling fear as we watched the desperate warnings of scientists ignored by our leaders at COP15, and disbelief as our irreplaceable planet was sacrificed for meaningless profits. And we will remember our frustration as we worked to awaken a world that often seemed willfully ignorant of the enormous danger it faced. But this will not be all. I believe that one day, when we look back, we will also remember something incredible. We will remember how our generation made a collective decision to rise as one, all across the globe, and refused to let shortsightedness and greed destroy our future. We will remember that even when the situation seemed hopeless we never gave up, for there was just too much at stake. And we will remember how finally, our movement, once a whisper, grew before our eyes into a roar so deafening that it could no longer be ignored. On that day, our children and grandchildren will look to us with gratitude. Just as young Westerners pay their respects to the enormous sacrifices made during the great wars, one day we too will be thanked, for doing whatever it took to ensure that our descendants on this earth could have prayers of their own.” [1].
[1]. Paul Connor, “Day 44 –One Day (fast ends)”, Climate Justice Fast,20 December 2009: http://www.climatejusticefast.com/blog/entry/day-44-one-day-fast-ends/ .