Ati-Atihan dancers led by the Philippine Movement for Climate Justice (PMCJ), flocked in front of the European Union Commission office, and embassies of other rich countries at RCBC Plaza in Makati today.
Gerry Arances coordinator of PMCJ said,” We are here to exorcise the spirit of deception of rich countries whose offices’ are inside this building. For years they pledged to cut their greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions and pay the climate debt they owed to poor countries, but all these are mere rhetoric and what has been fulfilled is inadequate.”
PMCJ is using the symbolic ritual, which is usually done to drive away evil spirits from bodies it possessed, to dramatize how deception have played a big role in the climate debacle since the inception of the Climate Convention in 1992.
Historically, rich countries of the North started filling the Earth’s atmosphere with their GHG emissions to propel their nation’s industrialization and developments. This accumulation of GHG emissions fuelled global warming and climate change which brought us to where we are today. The current GHG concentration in the earth’s atmosphere is now at 400 ppm, a record breaking state never before seen for hundreds of thousands of years.
“The rich countries have continuously undermined the principles of the Climate Convention. The convention obligates these countries to cut their GHG emissions, provide climate finance (funds) for adaptation and mitigation needs of developing countries, provide technology and capacity building. Look at where we’re at now.” Arances added.
The irony is that those who contributed less to this climate crisis, the developing and poor countries like the Philippines, suffer the most.
Lidy Nacpil, lead convenor of PMCJ stated that “The Philippines as one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change must join the peoples of the South in demanding reparations from rich countries for their climate debt. Under the UNFCCC teraty the rich,industrialized countries are legally bound to cover the fullcost of the effecsof climate changeand ourshift to low carbon development pathways .“
This coming July16-17, 2013, the 1st Experts Meeting of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Extended Program on the Long Term Finance will be held in Makati, Philippines, where high level representatives of both developed and developing countries will be participating. “This is an opportune moment for us Filipinos to voice our demand and let the leaders of the rich industrialized countries that enough is enough, we will not just stand and wait for them to do as they pleases.” Nacpil added.
The Extended Program on Long Term Finance is intended to facilitate the US$100 Billion commitment of developed countries by 2020 for developing countries’ adaptation and mitigation needs. It is part of the developed countries commitments in the 2010 Conference of Parties (COP) meeting under the UNFCCC. Experts from the international community say that it is still not enough as the actual amount that developing countries need is pegged at US$400 Billion per year.
“Last month, we also trooped here to deliver the message to EU and US that they are responsible for the disasters that devastated and will devastate us. Today we are asking them to act and show to their people and the peoples of the South that they are indeed sincere with their promises. We say enough of the deceptions; put your money where your mouth is. Cut your emissions! Pay up your climate debts!” Arances concluded.