MANILA-Filipino environmental activists staged a protest in front of U.S. Embassy in Manila on September 20, 2024 ahead of 79th UN General Assembly to demand trillions in climate finance for developing countries.
The mobilization was led by Asian Peoples’ Movement for Debt and Development (APMDD), Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP), Partido Lakas ng Masa (PLM), Samahan ng Progresibong Kabataan (SPARK), Sanlakas, Oriang, Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC), and Philippine Movement for Climate Justice (PMCJ), among others.
About 800 protesters first converged in front of the Museum of Natural History, at the corner of Kalaw Ave. and Taft Ave., before marching to the U.S. Embassy, demanding the phaseout of fossil fuels and payment of climate reparations
Under the Paris Agreement of 2015, countries, including the U.S., agreed to stay under 1.5C degrees of warming to avoid climate catastrophe, according to the organizers.
“This means reducing emissions by 45% by 2030 and reaching zero emissions by 2050. Now, scientists say there is a 66% percent chance we will cross the 1.5C threshold between now and 2027,” they said in a statement to the media.
“This year, heatwaves in South and Southeast Asia have caused school closures, crop failures, and deaths due to heat stroke,” they added.
To address the climate crisis, poor countries need climate finance from the world’s wealthiest nations, who have historically emitted the most greenhouse gasses and contributed the most to climate change, according to the participating groups.
As economic loss and damage from storms, heatwaves, and floods pile up in South and Southeast Asia, climate activists are demanding $5 trillion per year for developing countries to tackle the climate crisis.
Global leaders will assemble in New York for the UN’s Summit of the Future and the 79th General Assembly from September 20-28.
Photo by Elmer Valenzuela
