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We refuse to accept this as a way of life
Friends, I’m writing from the Philippines, where Typhoon Hagupit has forced over a million people into emergency shelters and taken more than 20 lives. This storm comes just one year after Typhoon Haiyan cost over 7,000 lives and caused nearly incalculable damage. If climate change is left unchecked, warmer oceans and higher sea levels will make typhoons ever more frequent and intense. As the Philippines feels the impacts of climate change, world governments are at the latest round of United Nations climate talks in Lima, Peru. Negotiators just released a new draft climate text that would force companies like Exxon and Chevron to “cease to exist in their current forms,” according to the Financial Times. But unlike tobacco control talks where tobacco lobbyists are banned, the UN climate talks allow the fossil fuel industry free reign in their halls. Lobbyists for polluters are fighting hard to weaken the agreement — and take away protections for communities in places like the Philippines. Together, we must refuse to accept a future where deadly storms become a way of life. It’s time to kick big polluters out and make the climate talks fossil free: As climate change continues to induce ever increasing and intensifying extreme weather events, we affirm our commitment to stand with the plight of vulnerable communities whose lives, property and dignity are at stake. It gives me strength to know that right now, in Peru, and around the world, global activists are directly standing in solidarity with the Philippines and standing up to the influence of the fossil fuel industry. We are a strong and resilient people here in The Philippines. We are not calling for sympathy, much less pity. We are calling for action from governments and solidarity from people around the world. Yours in seeking justice, Zeph for 350.org P.S. Please consider donating to the ongoing relief efforts in the Philippines. One year after Typhoon Haiyan 15,000 people were still living in tent cities. Now Hagupit has caused another wave of destruction and another setback for people trying to rebuild their lives. Your donation will be directed to where it is most needed in the rebuilding effort.
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