Quezon City, 24 July 2023—As torrential rains batter most of Luzon and with Metro Manila now placed under a state of calamity, Greenpeace calls on President Marcos for climate action.

Evacuees struggle to wade through neck-deep floods. The last time Manila and the surrounding provinces faced rains and flooding comparable to this week’s Typhoon Carina (Gaemi) and the enhanced southwest monsoon was Super Typhoon Rolly (Goni) and Tropical Storm Ondoy (Ketsana). Such extreme “once-in-a-decade” rains are getting more common because of heating ocean waters due to climate change. © Noel Celis / Greenpeace

Greenpeace Philippines campaigner Khevin Yu said, 

“These torrential rains give yet another picture of extreme weather in a climate changed world. Filipinos are calling for climate justice. President Marcos must champion policies to help facilitate access to justice for communities.

“As part of our Climate Action Agenda, Greenpeace is calling on President Marcos to:

  • “Speed up the passage of and enact the Climate Accountability Bill;
  • “Start the process to litigate carbon majors for climate impact damages to the Filipino people;
  • “Review and cancel MOUs from line agencies such as the DENR with companies that perpetuate the climate crisis and who likewise deny their own responsibility in the climate crisis;
  • “Champion the Climate Damages Tax and other innovative sources of finance to ensure not just adequate funding, but, importantly, payment from corporations, for loss and damage;
  • “Stop all plans for nuclear energy, fossil gas expansion and other false solutions; and
  • “Enable policy reforms to reshape the economy to enable climate justice and community resilience.

“Before the President’s SONA, volunteers from Greenpeace Philippines and frontline communities in San Mateo, Rizal visited flood-control structures in Barangay Banaba, which have had to endure multiple climate disasters but are yet to be completed and are in fact, already falling apart.

“Just days later, as Typhoon Carina and the southwest monsoon tag team Luzon, the community members of Banaba brace themselves and prepare to conduct rescue operations.

“This will likely not be the last, or the worst, storm we will face this year. Climate impacts will continue to escalate. It is small communities like Banaba, with poor infrastructure, that are affected the worst. For their sake, the Marcos administration must prioritize climate action.

“The Philippines has joined the UN Loss and Damage Fund Board, and starting this year, will be its host. We urge the Marcos administration to not stop there. Carina, the monsoon and the many extreme weather events the country will face are reminders that the situation is dire and that the time for determined action isn’t now but yesterday.”

NOTE:

You may download our Climate Action Agenda here.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Karl Orit, Greenpeace Communications Campaigner

[email protected] | +63 9194571064