Environmental activists seek reparations from ‘Global North’
Pro-enviroment demonstrators stage a protest in front of the Embassy of France in Makati City on June 22, 2023 during the opening day of the Paris Summit for a New Global Financial Pact. (Photo from Sofia Abrogar)
MANILA, Philippines— Some activists flocked to the Embassy of France in Makati City on Thursday.
They were demanding financial reparations from highly industrialized nations they referred to as “Global North.”
The demonstrators said these countries are responsible for the climate crisis that hounds developing countries like the Philippines.
The protest was meant to coincide with the first day of the Paris Summit for a New Global Financing Pact in France.
WATCH: On the first day of the Paris Summit for a New Global Financing Pact, climate justice advocates flocked to the Embassy of France to demand reparations from Global North countries for their hand in the climate crisis hounding developing nations like the PH. @inquirerdotnet pic.twitter.com/RAPjw5x7kW
— Sofia Abrogar (@SAbrogarINQ) June 22, 2023
The campaign was one of seven protests held across Asian countries by several organizations.
These groups were Asian Peoples’ Movement on Debt and Development (APMDD), women’s group Oriang, Philippine Movement for Climate Justice (PMCJ), Sanlakas party-list, and Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino.
Flora Santos, veteran climate activist and Oriang protest leader, calls upon rich nations to pay their debts to developing nations such as the Philippines. She speaks in front of the Embassy of France in Makati City on June 22, 2023 during the opening of the Paris Summit for a New Global Financial Pact in France. (Photo from Sofia Abrogar)
Advocates said the new agreement that is being discussed by world leaders will only translate to more debts for small economies.
“In the midst of the multiple crises that are pushing billions of people into extreme poverty and the planet over disastrous tipping points, we are witnessing the rise of flawed and deceptive initiatives that claim to address the need for financial solutions to support developing countries,” said Lidy Nacpil, APMDD coordinator.
“Patuloy [ang] pamamayagpag ng dirty financing na sila mismo ang nakikinabang, habang tayong mga nasa Global South ay patuloy na taga-salo lang ng mga krisis na ito,” she went on.
(The prevalence of dirty financing that benefits only them persists, while we in the Global South continue to catch these crises.)
“Kada bumabagyo, kada may bagyong Yolanda, bagyong Paeng, bagyong Ondoy, sino ang nahihirapan? Tayo di ba?” asked PMCJ’s Jericho Robles.
(When it storms, when there is a typhoon Yolanda, typhoon Paeng, or typhoon Ondoy, who suffers? It’s us, right?)
“The conversation (in Paris) is not about pity from wealthy nations. It is about justice,” he said.
Environmental activists march along Makati Avenue in Makati city on June 22, 2023 carrying the photographed heads of world leaders from whom they demand climate reparations. (Photo from Sofia Abrogar)
Rich countries can be fined 170 trillion US dollars in climate reparations by 2050, according to a June 5 study published in the scientific journal Nature Sustainability.
The research also showed only 23 wealthy nations are responsible for half of all gas emissions worldwide.
In addition, a November 2022 study by anti-poverty body Oxfam International revealed only 125 billionaires are responsible for one million times more greenhouse gas emissions that an average person can inflict on the environment.
A climate justice advocate raises his call to “tax the rich,” demanding reparations from “Global North” countries. This was during a protest in front of the Embassy of France in Makati City on June 22, 2023 simultaneous with the opening day of Paris Summit for a New Global Financial Pact. (Photo from Sofia Abrogar)
The activists called on governments of wealthy nations such as France, Canada, United States, and Japan to own up to their part in the global crisis.
This they may do through financial reparations, demanded the protesters.
RELATED STORIES:
How chocolate could counter climate change
What is the ‘Bridgetown Initiative’ asking for at Paris financial summit?
