Labor leaders coming from a range of labor parties, federations and local unions participated in a forum on climate change organized by JSAPMDD on September 21 in Mandaluyong City.

The forum sought to familiarize the leaders of the various labor organizations on the issues and developments concerning climate change and to encourage them to actively participate in the campaign for Annex 1 countries to cut their carbon emissions and pay their climate debts as well as to demand that the World Bank and the private sector not have a role in climate finance.

Lidy Nacpil started off her presentation by defining climate change and emphasizing the need to address it at the global level. She tackled the profound impacts and implications of climate change and proceeded to discuss the political and economic history behind global warming. She pointed to the industrialization of the US and other economically advanced countries in the North as the systemic roots to climate change. She explained that the unregulated drive for profit by big corporations and financial institutions has led to the massive extraction of resources for the production of goods.

She then discussed the science-based, equitable solution to the climate crisis. She explained the need to transform the system to a low-carbon, environmentally sound political system. In order to realize this shift, Lidy stressed that deep, drastic cuts of GHG emissions by Annex 1 countries are needed to stabilize the Earth's temperature. She further pointed out the need for climate finance to ensure adaptation measures for developing countries. Lidy stressed that all the requirements for a just and democratic resolution to the crisis will require a binding global agreement to be enforced among nations. She also discussed the immediate importance of setting up national mechanism among South nations to ensure the proper allocation and sourcing of funds be prioritized to those who need it most.

Lidy then continued to discuss the state of play in the global arena and the developments in the UNFCCC's climate negotiations. She also gave a brief introduction to the important players aside from the Annex 1 in the UNFCCC processes.

The last part of her discussion was a presentation of campaign plans and the importance of the role of the trade union sector in achieving the goals of the campaign. The participants committed to mobilize for the campaign initiatives of JSAPMDD such as the email action to the Transitional Committee and the planned mobilizations at the embassies of South Africa, Mexico and Norway in October and the US embassy in November.