November 29, 2015 - As in many cities around the world, citizens took the streets to make a stand for climate justice and global solidarity. In the Philippines around 15,000 people mobilized, coming from different sectors in Metro-Manila alone, including the Church, the urban poor, women, mining-affected communities, staging a very successful 'Climate Walk'.
In five other city centers, we were able to mobilize around 15,000 more. The nationally-coordinated actions called "March for Climate Action-Pilipinas, participated in by over 50 national and local organizations, coalitions, alliances, community-based and people's movements. Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC) spearheaded the march in one of the six routes: the Justice and Reparations for Climate-Affected Peoples.
Read FDC's full statement on the occasion of the Climate Walk here.
MEDIA RELEASE
ReplyDeleteAsian, Pacific, Caribbean activists call for a fair and just climate deal
PARIS, 3 December 2015 – Asian, Pacific island, and Caribbean activists from the Global Campaign to Demand Climate Justice spoke about how they are fighting against climate change in their own communities and countries, and what their demands are for the Paris talks and beyond.
“In India right now, the huge city of Chennai is submerged once again in the past month. But India and other developing countries are being blamed for the lack of progress in the talks. It is mostly the poor and the vulnerable who are hit hardest by climate change even though they have contributed the least to the climate crisis. We demand a fair and just climate agreement which will hold the United States, European Union, and other developed countries accountable,” said Willy D'Costa, convenor of the Indian Social Action Forum and chair of the Asian Peoples Movement on Debt and Development.
“We know that women are even more affected by climate change impacts, which is why there is no climate justice without climate justice. Gender must be put back in the language for climate finance, and be fully reflected in the Paris agreement,” said Puspa Dewy, program coordinator of Solidaritas Perempuan (Women’s Solidarity for Human Rights) in Indonesia.
“Being home to over 2,000 glacial lakes, glacial melting and the resultant glacial lake outburst floods are always an imminent threat hanging over us. We had one in 2012 and a recent one in June which adds to the already existing development challenges in the country of both economic losses and more importantly, non-economic losses of lives, displacement and socio-cultural losses which are simply irreversible,” said Prerna Bomzan, the Nepalese advocacy coordinator of LDC [Least Developed Countries] Watch.
“We are a minority within a minority. We cannot hunt and we cannot plant anymore because of the rising sea levels, and it is even more difficult for us now to survive,” said Togiab MackRose Elu, an indigenous Torres Strait Islander.
“Climate change for us is real and is fatal. We have been fighting for loss and damage in the past ten years, and it is my pledge and my hope that it will be addressed here in the Paris climate talks,” said Maria Nailevu, gender advocate with DIVA for Equality in Fiji.
“Loss and damage is critical for us in the Caribbean islands, where we are experiencing unprecedented and unpredictable flooding. We need the voices of the small island nations to be heard and included in the Paris agreement,” added Flavia Cherry, director of the Caribbean Association for Feminist Research and Action, from St. Lucia.
###
For further information, contact:
Leah Lamb – Media Liason
Leahlamb@gmail.com / Paris Cell: +33 76 84 38 465 / US Cell: 510 225 8874
Denise Fontanilla – Asian Peoples Movement on Debt and Development
dmfontanilla@gmail.com / +639178514890