This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.
Super Typhoon Uwan (Fung-wong) made landfall days after the 12th anniversary of Yolanda, a storm so powerful it ‘put a human face on the climate crisis’
MANILA, Philippines – As the 30th Conference of the Parties (COP30) starts in Brazil, millions of Filipinos are still reeling from loss of lives and devastation left by Typhoon Tino (Kalmaegi) and Super Typhoon Uwan (Fung-wong).
As of Monday, November 10, the national government reported at least 165 dead in the aftermath of Tino and at least two killed due to Uwan. More than 3 million people have been affected by Tino while 1.3 million Filipinos evacuated in preparation for Uwan.
Uwan made landfall days after the 12th anniversary of Super Typhoon Yolanda, the storm that Filipino climate activist Yeb Saño said “put a human face on the climate crisis.”
At COP30, world leaders and delegates gather in the Amazon to discuss new climate targets, funding to help vulnerable and disaster-prone countries like the Philippines, and the just transition to clean energy. The summit starts Monday and is expected to be over by November 21.
The summit takes place a decade after the Paris agreement, a deal where the world agreed to cut back greenhouse gas emissions and limit warming by 1.5 degrees Celsius. (READ: Where are we now on the Paris Agreement, a decade after it was adopted?)
“[T]he Philippines finds itself once again being reminded of both the reality of the climate crisis and the consequences of corruption,” said Aksyon Klima Pilipinas national coordinator John Leo Algo, who is in Brazil as one of the representatives of Philippine civil society groups at COP30.
The wrath of Uwan, said Algo, places a lot of pressure on the Philippine delegation “to deliver concrete outcomes.”
Money talks
Funds are needed to help vulnerable nations mitigate emissions, and adapt and recover from climate change impacts.
“Here in Belém, we must accelerate on all fronts,” said United Nations Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell in a message on Friday, November 7. “But we all know that plans without finance cannot reach their full potential. Finance is the great accelerator.”
A key focus at COP30 is the Baku to Belém Roadmap which aims to scale funding to $1.3 trillion per year by 2035. In addition, a funding mechanism for countries dealing with irreversible impacts of climate change (or loss and damage) will start accepting proposals during COP30. The Philippines hosts the Loss and Damage Fund Board.
In the aftermath of Tino, Filipino farmers suffered P159-million worth in production loss, primarily rice crops. Thousands of farmers and fisherfolk, the country’s poorest sectors, are grappling with livelihood losses.
Vulnerable communities are not only seeking reparation through loss and damage funding but have also gone to court as well.
Typhoon Odette victims of 2021 are set to sue British oil and gas company Shell before a United Kingdom court for climate damage. They announced this merely two weeks before COP30 started.
Meanwhile, Greenpeace Philippines urged President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to “end [the] system of impunity and corruption.” Fossil fuel corporations and local corrupt officials and contractors should pay, according to the group.
“The root problem is greed,” Virginia Llorin, Greenpeace Philippines campaigner, said in a statement. “The unchecked greed and the impunity of fossil fuel corporations which have knowingly fueled the climate crisis for profit, as well as corruption by public servants and unscrupulous contractors who have stolen life-saving climate funds.”
– Rappler.com
