A year since Typhoon Haiyan

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Manila, Nov. 8, 2014

"In commemoration of the first year of Typhoon Haiyan and to honor all the victims of the global climate crisis, we declare this day, Nov. 8, as International Day for Climate-Affected Communities as we call on all climate-impacted communities and their organizations to unite in demanding justice and system change,” the group said in a unity statement endorsed by over a hundred civil society organizations from more than 30 countries.

GOVERNMENT NEGLECT

A year since Typhoon Haiyan struck the Philippines, the government still has not sufficiently reached hundreds of thousands of affected families, according to People Surge, an alliance of Typhoon Haiyan survivors.

“The government not only failed to respond to the pressing call for immediate relief of Typhoon Haiyan survivors and the rehabilitation of their communities and livelihood. It also failed to address the underlying roots of people’s vulnerability to calamities, including the grotesque inequities, poverty, lack of access to social services and protection, and maldevelopment,” said Dr. Efleda Kempis-Bautista of People Surge.

Bautista railed against the “No Build Zone” policy of the government that prohibits fishermen and other residents in the Visayas areas from returning to their fishing villages purportedly to prevent the same disasters in case of storm surges.

“It is infuriating that President Aquino feeds on the miseries of the victims and survivors to generate profits and government favor. Through the “No Build Zone” policy, he divided Haiyan-hit areas like a pie among big investors and foreign and local corporations,” Bautista said.

HAIYAN NOT AN ISOLATED CASE

The statement emphasized that Typhoon Haiyan is a snapshot of the global climate injustice brought about by the lopsided use of the world’s shared resources by a powerful global elite.

It revealed that annually, disasters result in over 60,000 deaths, mainly in underdeveloped countries, while direct economic losses were more than double in low-income countries compared to high-income countries.

“Almost everyone recognizes the reality of climate change and the challenges it poses to the wellbeing of the planet. But there is little acknowledgement of the fact that catastrophes like Typhoon Haiyan is first and foremost the consequence of a global economic system rooted in the lopsided use by a powerful global elite of the world’s common resources and the disempowerment and dispossession of the majority of the world’s people.

“From the indigenous peoples of the sinking Carteret Islands, to the debt-burdened farmers of flooded villages of South Asian regions, to the starving rural peoples of drought-stricken countries of Africa, the people of the global South are disproportionately bearing the hardest impacts of climate change despite having no responsibility for it,” said Jiten Yumnam of the Center for Research and Advocacy Manipur (CRAM).

A GLOBAL SURGE FOR CLIMATE JUSTICE

The statement challenged governments and leaders to come up with a new framework and ambitious goals by 2015 to stop the climate crisis, protect the poor and vulnerable, make the polluters pay, and bring reparation to all victims of the climate crisis. It particularly called on governments of developed countries to take the lead, given their historical responsibility, in reducing carbon emissions and fulfilling their commitments on strengthening the capacity of developing countries and financing their transition to sustainable and clean technologies.

“In 2015, governments will be convening anew to conclude a climate agreement and a new development agenda. Securing a socially just and progressive climate outcome is uncertain given the deep influence of corporations in the climate talks. This is where civil society and social movements’ vigilance and active participation, both inside and outside negotiating halls, become very important,” said Tetet Nera-Lauron of People’s Movement on Climate Change.

Campaign for People’s Goals for Sustainable Development (People’s Goals), meanwhile, reiterated that nothing short of a profound and far-reaching systemic change should be the response to climate change.

“Disasters similar to the scale of Haiyan are bound to be repeated as long as the system geared toward profit maximization and accumulation of wealth is in place. We need to build an alternative sustainable system that ensures the basic material and non-material needs of all peoples, while protecting the wellbeing and balance of the biosphere,” said Paul Quintos of People’s Goals. ###

For reference contact:

CPGSD Secretariat
Telephone: +632 927.70.60-61 loc. 208/
Email: [email][email protected]

A copy of the civil society unity statement for Typhoon Haiyan survivors and climate impacted communities is available at: http://peoplesgoals.org/devjustice/people-of-the-world-surge-forward-for-climate-justice/