We stand with the Philipines

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As the COP18 climate talks continue the Super Typhoon Bopha which hit the Philippines yesterday shows the devastating impacts of climate change and the necessity for concrete outcomes from the talks. The death toll has climbed to more than 270 people with over 170,000 people fleeing their homes. This is the 16th extreme weather event to hit the Philippines this year and this typhoon is yet another example of how the Global South are bearing the brunt of the impacts of climate change.


In the Long-Term Cooperative Agreement Plenary session yesterday, a negotiator from the Philippines said "instead of getting ready for Christmas, we may be counting our dead". This illustrates the reality faced by countries in the Global South who are suffering the impacts of climate change while developed countries block progress at the climate talks. The working groups on Long-term Cooperative Action and Kyoto Protocol are closing with no agreement on many integral issues. The issues that have not been negotiated will not be carried over to the Durban Platform. This would condemn developing countries to even more severe impacts in the future and lock in low ambition and inequity for the next 8 years.


This morning, youth from all over the world signed on to a statement in solidarity with the people of the Philippines issued by the Canadian Youth Delegation. This statement highlights the ignorance and arrogance of developed countries and fossil fuel corporations who put the interests of profits ahead of the needs of people. It demands real action at the COP18 to address the climate crisis.
Throughout the talks youth delegates alongside other civil society groups have been running a climate justice campaign called Climate Legacy which uses red ´climate impact´ dots which symbolise climate impacts.


Here in Qatar in Brussels we are preparing an action in solidarity with the people of the Philippines and the millions of people around the world who suffer the impacts of climate change. It will also support the action by the youth delegation at the COP18 today.


We will take a theatrical demonstration at the Christmas market in Brussels to raise awareness among the public about climate injustice. We will use red dots to represent climate impacts including food insecurity, forced migration and extreme weather event While people are doing their Christmas shopping we will highlight some of the impacts of climate change on developed countries particularly in the Philippines who will be spending their Christmas recovering from the devastating destruction of the typhoon. The action will emphasise how the EU is responsible for massive greenhouse gas emissions but refuses to take the lead in ambitious emission reduction targets or finance for the Green Climate Fund.
As European youth we stand in solidarity with the Philippines. We stand in solidarity with the countries of the Global South. We stand in solidarity with young people across the world who are demanding action, who are demanding equity and who are demanding ambition.


This cannot be another decade of inaction. We demand a just outcome from Doha.


We demand climate justice now.