BY CHUCK BACLAGON
As negotiators wrestled with a new climate finance goal behind closed doors in Baku, supertyphoon Man-yi unleashed its fury across the Philippines. The sixth major typhoon to strike the country in just one month, it arrived while many communities were still reeling from a previous storm—emptying out mud from their homes, dealing with a lack of electricity and water. These back-to-back typhoons demonstrated the increasing intensity of climate impacts: over 160 lives were lost, with extensive damages affecting nearly nine million people.
A week after the COP29 climate talks concluded, Southern Thailand and Northern Malaysia experienced torrential rains that caused their worst flooding in decades. Thousands of families had to be rescued from their homes and evacuated.
Incidents like these underscore the injustice when rich countries emerge from climate talks, yet again, with nothing to offer frontline communities who bear the brunt of inaction. Clearly, there is an urgent need to decisively steer the development pathways of Asian countries towards a future that acknowledges their vulnerability to extreme weather and the futility of fossil-fueled development. But instead of taking the steering wheel, political leaders seem to have sunk climate action to a new low with a finance deal that Least Developed Countries have called not just a failure, but a “betrayal” of the world’s most vulnerable.
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The new climate finance goal of USD 300 billion annually by 2035 side steps genuine accountability and justice. This amount–a pittance compared to the trillions of dollars spent by rich countries on war and fossil fuel subsidies–does not even cover the bare minimum.
The new climate finance goal of USD 300 billion annually by 2035 side steps genuine accountability and justice. This amount–a pittance compared to the trillions of dollars spent by rich countries on war and fossil fuel subsidies–does not even cover the bare minimum, such as adaptation efforts that are estimated to cost up to USD 387 billion annually in developing countries. Finance for loss and damage was also excluded from the new goal, a devastating blow to disaster-prone Asian countries which contribute minimally to global emissions but suffer disproportionately from climate impacts.
With the finance goal including money from multilateral development banks (MDBs) and the private sector, the deal also did not guarantee the kind of money we truly need: grants-based finance or money with no strings attached. With most developing countries in Asia already in debt distress, climate funding in the form of loans–which made up 70% of climate finance mobilized by MDBs in 2023–only adds to the injustice that the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) should be addressing, not contributing to.
Yet while hope seems to be fading in officially sanctioned arenas for climate action under the auspices of the UNFCCC, communities are leading the way through acts of solidarity, mutual aid, and innovation.
Yet while hope seems to be fading in officially sanctioned arenas for climate action under the auspices of the UNFCCC, communities are leading the way through acts of solidarity, mutual aid, and innovation. These efforts from the grassroots give us a foresight on the realm of possibilities for realizing climate justice and building a low-carbon future in places where it counts the most.
In the Philippines, community-led initiatives transform disaster response and build sustainable futures through collective action. In Barangay Tatalon, a village in Metro Manila that often serves as a catch basin for floodwaters, an association of mothers called “Nanay Power” initiated solar-powered systems to enable lighting and charging stations in the aftermath of Typhoon Gaemi. With women’s leadership, the community has embraced renewable energy as a vital lifeline in disaster scenarios.
In the province of Eastern Samar, the women of Sulu-an–a remote island whose shores were the first to meet Typhoon Haiyan’s ferocious winds and storm surges in 2013–also harnessed the power of solar technology to transform despair into resilience. Through the Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities (ICSC) Solar Scholars program, they established a solar cooperative and a charging station, pooling their resources under a “pay-it-forward” model. With the cooperative’s proceeds, they acquired a solar freezer to preserve fish, sustaining their livelihoods while reinforcing their independence and adaptability in the face of climate adversity
In 2022, this initiative was further replicated when the Pacific Climate Warriors, in collaboration with ICSC and 350.org Asia, held a Solar Scholars training in sync between Tacloban, Philippines and Suva, Fiji. Participants learned how to assemble and maintain solar power systems, resulting in the establishment of 300-watt photovoltaic community charging hubs, which were donated to vulnerable islands in both countries.
By fostering technical skills and leveraging renewable energy, we have shown that urban and Asia Pacific island communities on the frontlines of the climate crisis can be empowered. Through community-led solutions that merge Indigenous knowledge, local leadership, and solar innovation, they demonstrate a profound model for climate justice rooted in dignity, equity, and self-reliance.
This moment of letdown by the Global North at COP29 is an opportunity to let frontline communities lead the way to a resilient and sustainable world. Without a doubt, we need greater climate ambition from Asian governments and the strategic mobilization of resources to fund the just transition. The region’s economic powerhouses—notably China, Japan, and Indonesia, with the highest per capita carbon emissions–must be pushed to develop 1.5-degree-aligned Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). Policy advocacy at the national level will certainly play an important role in ensuring inclusive processes and ambitious NDC submissions crucial to Asia’s resilience and low-carbon development.
As we advocate, we must show how the power of the people can mitigate the impacts of climate disasters and inspire a global shift toward renewable energy that is truly equitable and just. In Indonesia, a community-managed micro-hydro power plant in Kulonprogo, Yogyakarta can provide for the economic needs of an entire hamlet.
This is a model of where public finance, through responsive local governments, can provide much-needed support for the energy transition. Through its RESolusi campaign, 350.org Indonesia and Climate Rangers are also working among the youth to encourage Islamic boarding schools to adopt renewables, and to transition Jakarta’s public transportation fleet to solar-powered buses. These are concrete efforts to push for the decarbonization of a country considered as one of Asia’s major emitters.
The challenge of balancing accountability with addressing the pressing needs of the community is a constant struggle, faced by those living under the new normal of climate breakdown. It requires us to think of what can be achieved beyond the constraints of negotiation halls dominated by industry lobbyists.
Climate finance must empower frontline communities—not only to endure climate impacts but to lead with solutions that prioritize people and ecosystems. It should elevate lives in underserved areas, transforming global climate action into a force that addresses inequality and redefines progress for those least responsible for, yet most affected by, the climate crisis.
At its core, our mission is to ensure that life on Earth doesn’t merely survive but thrives. As we approach COP30 in Brazil, we challenge world leaders to embrace this vision and act with urgency.
Our greatest hope lies in cultivating powerful grassroots movements that demand justice at every level, hold leaders accountable, advocate for science-based climate action, and champion inclusive solutions that uplift all communities, leaving no one behind.###