PMCJ to Rich Polluting Countries: Pay Up for Climate Damages, Change the System Now!

Media Communications
Jun 27
3 min read

Quezon City, Philippines — The Philippine Movement for Climate Justice (PMCJ), together with the Asian Peoples’ Movement on Debt and Development (APMDD) and other organizations, mobilized on Kalaw Street towards the US Embassy in Manila for the Global Day of Action on Finance on June 27, 2025.

June is a critical month for global decision-making, with key events including the Bonn Climate Change Conference (SB62), the G7 Summit, and the 4th International Conference on Financing for Development (FFD4). These key meetings and summits enable wealthy countries to continue shaping the climate and economic landscape, but they are always met with actions and mobilizations from the Global South. The people of poor and vulnerable countries, such as the Philippines, demand real climate finance to phase out fossil fuels and for a just transition to renewable energy.

“The developing and most vulnerable countries are the face of the global climate emergency, as the peoples of the South are battling the severe impacts of the climate and multiple crises right now on a daily basis. Rich countries, the culprit of the broken neoliberal system, have just watched the South suffer by continuing on the system that creates the chaos. To say that it is overwhelming is an understatement. We demand reparations, immediate ambitious actions, and system change rooted in justice,” PMCJ National Coordinator Ian Rivera said.

“Global South countries have suffered enough injustice at the hands of the Global North. Why should the Filipino people pay the price for climate change, when we and the people of other Global South countries have done so little to cause it? Under the UN Climate Convention, Global North governments have an obligation to provide the Global South with trillions of public, unconditional, and non-debt-creating climate finance–yet they continually refuse to do so. Climate finance is a matter of survival for countries like ours, and we are here to demand the reparations we are rightfully owed,” APMDD Coordinator Lidy Nacpil said.

Communities across the Philippines have been calling to stop the harms and deliver the remedies, as dirty and destructive projects continue to affect their health, livelihood, and lives. Earlier this month, PMCJ demanded true renewable energy transition in light of the 20th Asia Clean Energy Forum (ACEF) led by the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

“Multilateral banks and multinational corporations keep pouring money into fossil fuel projects, leaving countries like ours to deal with the fallout and the ill and lasting effects on the people and the environment. For so long, they have evaded their responsibilities while profiting from a system that harms the communities. They have caused the crisis and therefore must pay,” PMCJ Senior Executive Officer Elle Bartolome said.

In April 2025, groups demanded years-long-delayed reparations at the World Bank Spring Meetings to seek justice for coal-affected communities. “In light of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Global North countries are legally bound to provide public and unconditional climate finance to the Global South. Rich countries must walk their talk and be accountable for the harms they’ve caused,” Bartolome added.

Rivera argued that the so-called high-level meetings led by the global elite do so little to serve and meet the people's demands. He emphasized that they only serve their greed and capitalist interests to continue their imperialist reign. You cannot change the system without the people dismantling the imperial house.

“The gap between the billionaires and the marginalized continues to widen, proliferating inequality, extreme poverty, economic distress, and wars of aggression. If they are serious about crafting true global solutions for these money talks, the voices of the vulnerable communities across the global South must be heard. It must be at the center of every discussion to decide the future's fate. Their commitment and resolutions must be at par and tailored to the interests of the common people, not from the rich who continue to destroy our planet and resources,” he lamented.

Various nations across the globe call for a change in the system. PMCJ joins this campaign in solidarity with all the world's marginalized communities, highlighting the Philippine experience of resistance to oppression and demanding accountability.

From the Philippines to Spain, the message is clear: Change the system, not the climate. ###

#ChangeTheSystem #PayUp #CancelTheDebt #NoToFalseEconomicSolutions #ClimateJusticeNow