READ: Environmental advocates call for justice and reparations! ​

February 28, 2023

Earlier today, environmental advocates gathered in front of the venue of the Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss & Damage meeting under the UNFCCC to demand support for the most affected communities due to climate change.

FULL DEMANDS:

We, the concerned youth and most-impacted sectors of the Philippines, write to you today to express our support for the Warsaw International Mechanism (WIM) for Loss and Damage, and to emphasize the necessity of accountability from Global North countries for climate change-related impacts in countries like the Philippines.
 
The Philippines is one of the countries most impacted by the climate crisis. Year after year, we experience losses and damages that are extremely difficult to bounce back from. As you hold your meeting this week, we urge you to remember the communities most impacted and our calls for justice.
 
These are our demands:
1️⃣For the WIM to recognize the historical responsibility of developed countries, (i.e., the “Global North,”) as the largest contributors to the climate crisis;
2️⃣For these largest polluters to pay up as a form and a part of reparations to the countries and regions most impacted, (i.e., the “Global South”);
3️⃣That these reparations should go to the most affected communities within the most impacted countries and regions;
4️⃣That the rights and demands of internal and external climate refugees be recognized, and that damages to their lands be compensated, and their communities rehabilitated compliant to international human rights standards;
5️⃣That the loss and damage fund must be financed in the form of unconditional grants, not predatory loans;
6️⃣That these grants must be new and additional funding, not merely reallocated from existing funds;
7️⃣That the specific mechanism for these calls to be operationalized must be ensured; and
8️⃣That target communities should be given representative engagement under the UNFCCC process through a consultative body made up of impacted sectors as part of said mechanism above.
 
As the Philippines is among the most at-risk and most-impacted nations by the climate crisis, we firmly stand in solidarity with all other affected communities across the globe with whom we share our experience and recognize the importance of a Loss and Damage fund that properly caters to our needs.
 
We trust that you will conduct your assembly this week with these demands in mind; and that you continue to center these most vulnerable communities as we move forward working together towards a Loss and Damage fund that is truly pro-people and pro-planet.