(Courtesy: Jimmy Domingo)
Isang Asia-wide biking events ang sumalubong sa pagbubukas ng United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change na ginaganap ngayon sa Egypt.
Sa Pilipinas, nasa 3,000 cyclist ang nakiisa sa 20-kilometer bike ride na “4th Pedal for people and Planet” na nagsimula sa Quezon City at Manila.
Inorganisa ito ng grupong Asian People’s Movement in Debt and Development.
Ayon kay Lidy Nacpil, coordinator ng APMDD, nanawagan ang kanilang grupo sa mga mayayamang bansa at industrialized countries na agad na magbigay ng climate reparations sa mga developing countries na apektado dulot ng climate change.
“This year, millions of people all over the world have suffered the grave impacts of climate change. Homes have been damaged, jobs and livelihoods disrupted or lost altogether, vast areas of crops destroyed, people have been dislocated. Too many died. We call on the governments of rich, industrialized countries, their elites and giant corporations who bear the greatest responsibility for the climate crisis: pay your climate debt owed to people and communities who contributed the least, if at all, to the problem, but bear its biggest impacts,” pahayag ni Nacpil.
Nagsagawa rin ng sabayang aktibidad ang mga climate campaigners sa Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Japan, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan at Nepal.
“This climate finance is to be used for adaptation, building resilience, and GHG reduction measures in developing countries, which includes the transition to renewable energy away from fossil fuels. It is not aid or assistance but part of reparations for the harm caused,” pahayag ni Nacpil.