CLIMATE change activists are hosting a mass pilgrimage to the capital.

The Brighton branch of international activist group Extinction Rebellion will set off from Peacehaven’s war memorial on Monday to start a 70-mile “pilgrimage for the planet” along the Greenwich Meridian Trail.

The pilgrims are walking to London to take part in Extinction Rebellion’s international protest on April 15 where they hope to bring the capital to a standstill.

Their aim is to raise awareness of climate breakdown leading to species extinction.

Georgie Barber of Extinction Rebellion, who helped plan the trail, said: “It is a privilege to help with the organisation of the pilgrimage.

“We are facing a climate emergency which poses an existential threat to all life on earth.

“We will do all we can to put this at the top of governments’ agenda. Global warming is real and imminent.”

The pilgrimage will go through Lewes and Forest Row, taking eight days and due to finish on April 14 at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich.

Participants can walk one day or complete the full eight days as they wish.

Pilgrims will sleep in churches and “sympathetic houses” en route.

Claudia Fisher of Extinction Rebellion Brighton said:

“I am planning to walk the entire eight days, I am nervous but excited.

“The impending climate catastrophe is so close and so terrifying, I will do whatever it takes to jolt people into being awake about the reality of the situation.

“If walking for eight days on this pilgrimage for our Blue Planet will get people thinking, I’m up for it.

“Time is short but if governments can drastically curb carbon emissions there is still hope.”

Members of the group invite others to gather at Brighton Palace Pier at 9am tomorrow to walk to the Peacehaven memorial to send-off or join the march.

While the walk is called a pilgrimage, it is an event open to all faiths.

Last month Extinction Rebellion brought traffic to standstill in Brighton during a “funeral march for life”.

They have also staged mass “die-ins” in Churchill Square.

The group’s London counterparts protested naked in the House of Commons this week during a Brexit debate.

To find out more about the pilgrimage email xr_brighton@protonmail.com.