10 years after Yolanda: Greenpeace bats for reparation

CEBU, Philippines — “Basically, our advocacy campaign in coming here is to urge the local governments to demand reparations and accountability for the loss and damages (wrought by supertyphoon Yolanda) that the biggest international oil companies owe to the people of Tacloban City and other frontline communities impacted by climate change.”

This was the statement of Jefferson Chua, one of the campaigners of Greenpeace, an international environmental organization that has been, for decades, advocating for climate mitigation around the world, and pursuing the debate on the issue of reparations for damages caused by climate change.

Greenpeace is now in Tacloban City, ahead of the 10th commemoration of Yolanda devastation, arriving with its Rainbow Warrior (RW) ship on its second port call in the past five years. The RW visit happens in the lead-up to the United Nations’ Climate talks (UNFCCC COP 28) to be held at the end of November in Dubai, where discussions on a financial mechanism for climate loss and damage will be highlighted.

The RW’s return to Tacloban is symbolic of Greenpeace’s joining climate-impacted communities to push for the demand for climate reparations from the world’s biggest oil and gas companies, a matter of debate that was started during the UN Climate Change Conference in Egypt in 1922.

The RW is one of Greenpeace's iconic ships that travel the world to help raise awareness on different environmental issues affecting the region. It arrived in Tacloban for the 10th commemoration of Yolanda, bringing “a message of hope and solidarity among the most climate-impacted communities around the country.”

Greenpeace’s calls for justice and accountability against those most responsible for this climate crisis will start its first leg of the tour in Tacloban where the RW ship will be opened to the public from November 7 to 10 when the people shall be educated on how to support for climate mitigation and justice through reparations for damages from the oil companies that caused much damage to the climate condition.

RW will later sail on to Bohol, and Metro Manila bearing witness to the heroism of climate impact survivors in calling for justice. While in the country, RW will honor the courage and determination of Filipino communities that are standing up for justice in the face of devastating climate impacts, according to a Greenpeace statement.

Greenpeace further said that, aside from the open boat tour of the RW in Tacloban, there will also be mounting the People’s Museum of Climate Justice from November 6-10 at the Multi-purpose Bldg of UP Tacloban campus.

The exhibit will showcase a collection of objects of memory, art pieces, and stories contributed by climate-impacted communities from Samar, Leyte, Bohol, Manila, and Mindanao narrating, illustrating, and memorializing their experiences, struggles, and hope in the face of climate change, such as the one wrought by Yolanda.

While authorities said that the issue of reparations for climate change damages is a complex and evolving topic that involves legal, ethical, practical, and political considerations, Greenpeace believes that fossil fuel companies must pay their climate debt with money to climate-impacted communities to compensate for the losses and damages—both economic and non-economic—experienced by people.

Greenpeace said these giant companies, which are big contributors of carbon emissions, must also stop fossil fuel expansion and phase out fossil fuels by committing to a just transition. The group calls on the Philippine government to demand justice and reparations by making polluters pay for climate impacts.

Chua said that “it is in the interest of local governments to demand payment from these big companies, which are consistently cause LGUs to spend much in climate adaptation and mitigation programs, notwithstanding the costs of recovery and the destruction of the communities’ economic condition.

In global terms, the amount of carbon emission of the Philippines pale in comparison to the amount of emission from other countries, which are due to continuous operations of these companies that causes also an increase in global temperature, rise of acidity levels of oceans, and supercharging of extreme weather events, said Chua.

Chua was also confident in telling the media that the communities in the frontline of climate impacts will be paid of damages, following the filing in court of reparation claims, which he said may amount to more than P3 trillion.

When asked how much will a particular family of a victim gets from the claims, Chua however was not certain, although he said that the official number of fatalities of Yolanda, who are subjects to reparation pay is more or less 6,000.

He said Greenpeace already has a list of victims, provided by the LGUs, and the total reparation claims may be divided among them subsequently. At this point though this remains a dream and an advocacy that Greenpeace is currently fighting for in the international arena.  — (FREEMAN)