Manifesto for climate justice from the youth of Eastern Samar

November 20, 2025

We, the Greenpeace Philippines - Eastern Samar Volunteers and the Eastern Samar Youth for Climate Justice, stand together in a unified and urgent demand: Climate Justice now.

The recent series of typhoons that struck our country once again exposed how dangerously vulnerable our communities have become. But these disasters are not the product of nature alone – they are intensified by collusion, corruption, impunity, and the unchecked greed of corporations, governments, and the wealthiest 0.1% who continue to profit as our communities face loss, displacement, and trauma.

As young leaders living on the frontlines of the climate crisis, we call on the government, corporations, and the richest billionaires to accelerate a just, equitable, and community-led transition to sustainable, affordable, clean, and renewable energy. We also call for the urgent strengthening and replenishment of the Loss and Damage Fund, ensuring vulnerable communities have the resources to prepare, rebuild, and adapt.

Our demands are not abstract; they are grounded in evidence and lived experience.

Oxfam’s latest report, Climate Plunder: How a powerful few are locking the world into disaster, lays bare the scale of injustice driving our suffering. The findings are stark:

- A person from the richest 0.1% emits more carbon in one day than the poorest half of the world emits in an entire year.

- If global emissions resembled those of the richest 0.1%, the world’s remaining carbon budget would be wiped out in less than three weeks.

These numbers are not just statistics: they expose the root of the crisis: a global system engineered to benefit a powerful few while the rest of the world pays the price. It is this same system that leaves communities like ours exposed, underfunded, and repeatedly forced to rebuild from nothing.

This is why we insist that those most responsible must finally pay their long overdue debt and support the transition they have delayed for decades.

We also call on the major polluters to face the survivors of Super Typhoon Odette and all climate survivors across the Philippines. We stand firmly behind the Odette Climate Case, a pioneering lawsuit filed by 67 Filipino survivors seeking justice for the devastation they suffered. This historic case – the first in the Global South to directly link carbon major operations to death, injury, and destruction – marks a critical step toward accountability long denied.

As global climate negotiations continue in Belém, these truths must shape the agenda.

Climate action cannot be separated from the politics of power, inequality, and corruption. Emissions targets and finance discussions mean little if the systems enabling elite capture and profit-driven obstruction remain untouched.

At COP30, governments must commit to:

- Strong transparency standards and anti-corruption safeguards across all climate finance mechanisms

- Independent oversight to ensure adaptation and Loss and Damage funds actually reach vulnerable communities

- Structural reforms that prevent high emitters and powerful elites from shaping climate policy for their own benefit

COP30 is not just another meeting – it is a deciding moment for the world. A moment for citizens and civil society to demand truth, accountability, and ambition. A moment for rich nations and powerful actors to deliver real commitments, not rhetoric.