Tarlac, Philippines, 8 October 2022 — In the wake of Super Typhoon Karding, farmers in Tarlac protested, alongside activists from Rice Watch Action Network and Greenpeace Philippines, on a storm damaged farm to call for Loss and Damage finance, ahead of COP27.
The farmers held a banner in the middle of a damaged rice field with the message: “TO CLIMATE POLLUTERS: PAY UP FOR LOSS & DAMAGE.” The groups are calling on nations who are historic emitters to pay for the political, social, and financial costs of the climate harm they created to heavily impacted nations.
They want world governments, meeting at COP27 in Egypt next month, to address compensation and loss and damage as a crucial step towards holding developed countries and carbon major companies accountable for the climate crisis.
Catalino Aganon, Rice Farmer from Gerona, Tarlac, said:
“I was terrified by the storm. We didn’t expect the winds to be that strong. This is the worst typhoon I have ever experienced and we cannot harvest our crops. Super typhoons don’t usually come into our lands during our harvest season, but things are getting worse and it’s clear the weather pattern has changed.”
“I paid one hundred thousand pesos (1703 USD) for this farming season, and now, most of my crops are worthless because the storm soaked them and flooded them with mud. We are now trying to save and harvest the grains that survived the winds. This will impact my family’s ability to survive.”
The amount of damage to agricultural lands caused by Super Typhoon Karding continues to rise. [1]
Virginia Benosa-Llorin, Climate Justice Campaigner with Greenpeace Philippines said:
“Farmers and other vulnerable communities are asserting their rights and demanding climate justice. Carbon majors and rich nations need to pay for the political, social, and financial costs of climate harm they created, after decades of pollution. A commitment to climate justice also requires the finance to prevent further harm and an urgent and just transition out of a fossil-fuel based economy.’
“The Philippines is in the middle of a climate crisis interwoven with multiple social crises. Real problems need real solutions: We call on the Philippines government to hold the carbon majors to account for their human rights harms, fast-track a just transition to renewable energy, and build sustainable and resistant communities. To do all this, wealthy nations must put more money on the table and make stronger and more ambitious commitments.” [2] [3]
Amiel Parducho, Spokesperson for Rice Watch Action Network, said:
“The fact that the world’s poorest people should bear the brunt of the climate crisis, to which they have contributed the least, is unfair. This crisis is affecting our livelihoods, our lands, and our food supply. We lose more food each year as a result of global heating and the increasing frequency and strength of catastrophic weather events.
“Whilst these people are lucky to have survived, their farms or seasonal income have not. The climate crisis significantly impacts agriculture and livestock farming. It destabilises the availability of water, and soil nutritional levels, and other factors that are needed to reap consistent crop yields.”
The Philippines has recently been found to be one of the countries with the highest disaster risk worldwide. [4]
References:
[1] Typhoon Karding agricultural damage assessment continues to rise, now at P3.12B
[3] Greenpeace International article on building resistant communities in the Philippines
Photos for media use: Kat Eusebio-Santillan, Digital Campaigner
Greenpeace Philippines, [email protected], +63 9992296451
Media Contacts:
Johanna Fernandez, Media and Communications Manager, Greenpeace Philippines, [email protected], +63-920-9759844
Greenpeace International Press Desk: [email protected], +31 (0) 20 718 2470 (available 24 hours)
