Delivering relief, solidarity and a promise of justice to Haiyan survivors
An update from Leon Dulce and the 350 Pilipinas / Power Shift Pilipinas team
I just came home from a national relief caravan last November 21 to 25 organized by the Bayanihan Alay sa Sambayanan (Cooperation for the People) or BALSA, of which Brigada Kalikasan is a part of. It was a remarkable and massive undertaking of various sectors and social movements, including peasant federations, trade unions, environmental advocates, political activists and even survivors from Typhoon Bopha, where we saw the mobilization of 600 volunteers from across the country travelling into the remote, least-served communities affected by Haiyan to deliver relief, services and solidarity.
Through the various efforts under BALSA, we were able to deliver food relief, psycho-social therapy and medical services to over 27,000 least-served families in the Leyte and Samar provinces! Despite the caravan’s long and hard travel across land and sea, it felt truly amazing to have touched the lives of our fellow countrymen, especially as they shared to us that they have not yet received aid from government two weeks after Haiyan ravaged their community.
This would not have been possible if not for those who quickly responded to our call for donations from Brigada Kalikasan’s networks and especially from the 350.org international community. As of November 26, we have already raised over ten thousand dollars (US$10,359.92) and several tons of relief goods, some of which we have contributed to the BALSA national relief caravan and other relief missions we supported in the Leyte, Samar and Panay island regions.
We encourage everyone to sustain the donation drive through the Brigada Kalikasan web portal as we prepare for the next national relief caravan this December, and as we move to the phase of infrastructure rehabilitation, livelihood recovery and climate change adaptation. Follow the website as well for calls for volunteers.
From solidarity to justice in the face of criminal negligence
Indeed, beyond delivering relief, we also brought the warm solidarity we shared in the various vigils held across the world. But the real, desperate needs of Haiyan survivors are very apparent and in need of continuing support. What our social movements are reaching is just a fraction of the entirety devastated by Haiyan: as of November 27, the government’s National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council reported that a total of 2.1 million families (or 9.9 million individuals) were affected and estimated damages of up to P24.5 billion across 44 provinces in the 9 affected regions. Power lines are still out, and water, food and communication are still severely limited in the majority of the affected areas. Most schools, hospitals and other public service institutions have virtually come to a standstill.
We personally witnessed tent and candle towns rising above the debris amidst persisting rainfall. Fisher folks lost all their boats and other implements to the storm surges, while farmers can only stare at the hectares upon hectares of uprooted coconut trees and flooded rice fields. This plight is expected to continue months or even years after Haiyan’s landfall, largely due to what the growing public opinion is calling the “criminal negligence” of the administration of President Benigno Simeon ‘BS’ Aquino III before, during and after Haiyan’s extreme climate episode.
In a position paper released last week, the Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment succinctly captured the Philippines’ disaster and climate crisis in the following statement:
“This has been the story of BS Aquino's governance for the past three years: year in and out, hundreds of billions of pesos in damages to infrastructure and livelihood, thousands of lives are lost and millions are adversely affected as politicians from the local governments up to the President himself continue to coddle environmentally destructive projects, pilfer public coffers, and condemn their constituents to chronic poverty and its consequent vulnerability.”
The Filipino public is fast realizing the need to claim justice from the government’s lack of both immediate and long-term responses to the country’s disaster and climate crisis. In the National Capital Region, families, friends and supporters of Haiyan survivors have initiated the Tindog Network (‘Tindog’ is ‘Rise Up’ in the local Waray language in Eastern Visayas) to demand from the government for faster relief and rescue, decent burial for the dead, adequate supply of basic needs, livelihood assistance and financial assistance and just compensation for the survivors.
The people have begun to connect the dots between Typhoon Haiyan and the need for climate justice. We hope for everyone’s continued support as we plan to tie together the massive disaster response efforts and the growing climate justice movements through the coming Power Shift PH campaigns in the first quarter of 2014.
An update from Leon Dulce and the 350 Pilipinas / Power Shift Pilipinas team
I just came home from a national relief caravan last November 21 to 25 organized by the Bayanihan Alay sa Sambayanan (Cooperation for the People) or BALSA, of which Brigada Kalikasan is a part of. It was a remarkable and massive undertaking of various sectors and social movements, including peasant federations, trade unions, environmental advocates, political activists and even survivors from Typhoon Bopha, where we saw the mobilization of 600 volunteers from across the country travelling into the remote, least-served communities affected by Haiyan to deliver relief, services and solidarity.
Through the various efforts under BALSA, we were able to deliver food relief, psycho-social therapy and medical services to over 27,000 least-served families in the Leyte and Samar provinces! Despite the caravan’s long and hard travel across land and sea, it felt truly amazing to have touched the lives of our fellow countrymen, especially as they shared to us that they have not yet received aid from government two weeks after Haiyan ravaged their community.
This would not have been possible if not for those who quickly responded to our call for donations from Brigada Kalikasan’s networks and especially from the 350.org international community. As of November 26, we have already raised over ten thousand dollars (US$10,359.92) and several tons of relief goods, some of which we have contributed to the BALSA national relief caravan and other relief missions we supported in the Leyte, Samar and Panay island regions.
We encourage everyone to sustain the donation drive through the Brigada Kalikasan web portal as we prepare for the next national relief caravan this December, and as we move to the phase of infrastructure rehabilitation, livelihood recovery and climate change adaptation. Follow the website as well for calls for volunteers.
From solidarity to justice in the face of criminal negligence
Indeed, beyond delivering relief, we also brought the warm solidarity we shared in the various vigils held across the world. But the real, desperate needs of Haiyan survivors are very apparent and in need of continuing support. What our social movements are reaching is just a fraction of the entirety devastated by Haiyan: as of November 27, the government’s National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council reported that a total of 2.1 million families (or 9.9 million individuals) were affected and estimated damages of up to P24.5 billion across 44 provinces in the 9 affected regions. Power lines are still out, and water, food and communication are still severely limited in the majority of the affected areas. Most schools, hospitals and other public service institutions have virtually come to a standstill.
We personally witnessed tent and candle towns rising above the debris amidst persisting rainfall. Fisher folks lost all their boats and other implements to the storm surges, while farmers can only stare at the hectares upon hectares of uprooted coconut trees and flooded rice fields. This plight is expected to continue months or even years after Haiyan’s landfall, largely due to what the growing public opinion is calling the “criminal negligence” of the administration of President Benigno Simeon ‘BS’ Aquino III before, during and after Haiyan’s extreme climate episode.
In a position paper released last week, the Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment succinctly captured the Philippines’ disaster and climate crisis in the following statement:
“This has been the story of BS Aquino's governance for the past three years: year in and out, hundreds of billions of pesos in damages to infrastructure and livelihood, thousands of lives are lost and millions are adversely affected as politicians from the local governments up to the President himself continue to coddle environmentally destructive projects, pilfer public coffers, and condemn their constituents to chronic poverty and its consequent vulnerability.”
The Filipino public is fast realizing the need to claim justice from the government’s lack of both immediate and long-term responses to the country’s disaster and climate crisis. In the National Capital Region, families, friends and supporters of Haiyan survivors have initiated the Tindog Network (‘Tindog’ is ‘Rise Up’ in the local Waray language in Eastern Visayas) to demand from the government for faster relief and rescue, decent burial for the dead, adequate supply of basic needs, livelihood assistance and financial assistance and just compensation for the survivors.
The people have begun to connect the dots between Typhoon Haiyan and the need for climate justice. We hope for everyone’s continued support as we plan to tie together the massive disaster response efforts and the growing climate justice movements through the coming Power Shift PH campaigns in the first quarter of 2014.
March Across Country For Climate Action
Zach Heffernen works with the Great March for Climate Action and he wrote this blog to let us know about their big plans.
Beginning on March 1, 2014, a determined group of people will begin an 8-month, 3000-mile trek across the nation. The goal is to create the largest coast-to-coast march in American history to motivate society to act now to address the climate crisis. Individuals who have signed-up to march so far range in age from 9-82, come from all over North America, and include college students, business professionals, activists, retirees and everything in between.
The March will start in Los Angeles on March 1, 2014, and pass through Phoenix, Denver, Omaha, Chicago, & Pittsburgh and conclude in Washington, DC on November 1. Marchers will walk 14-15 miles per day and camp nearly every night. Educational activities will be conducted along the March to inspire climate action within local communities.
Bill McKibben endorsed the March, saying, “350.org was born in a march of a thousand people across Vermont; it always does our hearts good to see others on the move!”
“Given the early interest, we are confident there are well over 1,000 people ready to make the commitment to march across America for this cause,” says Ed Fallon, the founder and director of the march. “Not only will we march side by side for eight months, but we’ll learn how to live together, work together, and communicate the urgency of our message to the people we meet as we travel across the country.
What does the Carbon Bubble mean for Canada and the tar sands?
It’s hard to know when a once radical idea goes mainstream, but we’re probably at that point with the carbon bubble. If you’re unfamiliar with the term here’s a quick definition. Basically, the carbon bubble is the idea that fossil fuel companies are overvalued because if and when the world ever gets serious about dealing with the climate crisis, the fossil fuel companies won’t be able to burn their carbon reserves, from which they derive their value.
Bill McKibben wrote about this idea last year in Rolling Stone, in an article that went strangely viral. In fact, the article got more hits than the Justin Bieber profile that appeared in the same edition of the magazine. Clearly this idea is hitting a nerve.
It’s not just environmentalists that are pushing this idea. The World Bank, London School of Economics and the International Energy Agency--all not exactly hippie outfits-- have put out warnings about a carbon budget, the upper limit of how much carbon we can burn and have a reasonable chance of not raising global temperatures more than 2 degrees C, a target that every country, including Canada, has agreed is the red line that we shouldn’t cross.
The carbon budget creates the carbon bubble. The idea of carbon budget received a boost a few weeks back when the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) sounded the alarm for immediate action on climate change and the necessity for keeping much of known fossil fuel reserves in the ground. The IPCC is made up of 2,000 of the top climate scientists in the world. If they say there is a budget, we ought to listen.
The budget is about 565 gigatons of CO2 (A gigaton is a billion tons). That sounds like a lot, and it is. The problem is we are blowing through about 31GtCO2 a year, meaning we will spend our budget in about 15-25 years.
Here’s where Canada and the tar sands come in. Calculations performed by 350.org, using industry filings and commonly accepted carbon accounting, show that the tar sands industry’s 170 billion barrels of economically viable proven reserves are estimated to take up about 17 percent of the world’s remaining carbon budget, or about 1/6 of what we have left to burn.
When you stop to think about it, that’s a big, big problem for Canada, the financial markets, and the world’s climate system. For Canada, it means that an over-reliance on the tar sands as an economic drive is a huge risk if the world ever regulates greenhouse gas emissions. It doesn’t make a ton of sense to build your economy around a product that can’t be sold or used.
For the markets, it means that companies that are heavily invested in the tar sands could be hugely over-valued, and therefor an existential threat to the economy. Suncor, TransCanada, and Shell are all betting big, along with Harper, that the world will never deal with the climate crisis. That’a a bad bet if you care about the stability of the markets.
And for the world, there must be a reckoning between physics and business as usual. Physics, who is undefeated to date, is telling us that we can only burn so much carbon and stay below our safe limit. Business as usual, championed by global conglomerates like Exxon and Chevron, are banking on us not getting serious about saving the planet.
Who will win just might determine the fate of the climate--and our economy.
Bushfires Raging in Spring. Something is up.
Bushfires are raging across the state of New South Wales in Australia. It's only Spring. Something is up. Yesterday, the Greens Member of Parliament, Adam Bandt, made headlines by suggesting that climate change is connected with the deadly NSW bushfires, which are causing widespread destruction. It has been treated as if he was speaking like a radical - by the media and by deniers. But there is nothing radical about what Bandt said - it’s what the Bureau of Meteorology have said and it’s what the Firefighters Union have said when addressing Parliamentarians:
"We are asking you very clearly, stop making this a political football, put in place the action that's required to secure the future because by 2020 we are going to see a frequency like we've not seen before." -- United Firefighters Union of Australia
It’s deeply worrying that, here in Australia, the causes and impacts of climate change have remained a political football. The increasing frequency and severity of bushfires show us that we can't hide from climate change impacts - they are happening already - not just here but all over the world. From the melting of the Arctic, larger cyclones hitting the Philippines, wildfires and drought in the United States, the list goes on. We’re entering a new era of weather extremes and it has a deadly toll.
How can any of us watch, be affected and not be frightened about what climate change means for all of us in Australia? We can't bury our heads in the sand -- we need to face what we're up against and insist on political action to reduce our emissions and avoid further community devastation. Bushfires aren't political, but we need political action to stop them.
What can we do?
1. Talk about it! It's a real concern and we need to talk to our politicians (pick up the phone and call your MPs and Senators), your local paper or radio station, your community and neighbours. Don't let deniers stop you voicing your concerns about the climate impacts we face nor the action needed to address them!
Suggested Tweets:
- Wildfires in October? Let's connect the dots: #climate change is driving extreme weather and wildfires. @TonyAbbottMHR @SMH @abcnews
- @SMH @abcnews We need to be talking about the link between climate change, wildfires and action to reduce emissions
- I stand with @AdamBandt and Firefighters: Message to @TonyAbbottMHR stop making #climate change a political football, make it about action.
- My sympathy goes out to all impacted by NSW bushfires. Let’s take action on #climate change seriously so fires don’t get even more wild.
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