"Neither does it negate the reality that the Global South including the almost 700 million-strong Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), virtually all of which are tropical countries is on the front line of the climate crisis. Typhoons Tino and Uwan, which recently struck our region, especially the Philippines, are the latest proof of this and a reminder of the urgent need for climate justice."
"It really boils down to four things. On the one hand, developed countries need to listen to developing and less developed countries on how climate change should be addressed. A rigid approach to the various facets of climate action, including technology, energy transition and biodiversity conservation, will ultimately frustrate the sincere, proactive measures that many Global South countries, including Malaysia and several of its ASEAN partners, are taking towards these goals."
"More flexibility on the part of the Global North would go a long way towards ensuring that the war against climate change is won. This is not an attempt to water down or deflect anything. The right to live in a sustainable environment is arguably a fundamental human right."
"Israel's devastating war in Gaza has also resulted in widespread ecocide that Western nations have remained strangely silent on, but whose ramifications not only for the Middle East but for the wider world will last for decades. There should therefore be no doubt that sustainability and human rights go together. Supporting the former, especially in ASEAN and the Global South, is a means of upholding the latter."
The United States' retreat under President Trump increases responsibility on Southeast Asia and the Global South to demonstrate effective climate leadership. Climate change remains real and the Global South, including nearly 700 million people in ASEAN, faces frontline impacts such as typhoons Tino and Uwan. Negotiations like COP30 must deliver listening, flexibility, technology transfer, energy transition support, and biodiversity protection that respect developing countries' circumstances. Developed countries should avoid rigid mandates and provide adaptable assistance. Sustainability is intertwined with human rights, and wartime ecocide, notably in Gaza, has global environmental consequences that compound the urgency for climate justice.
Read at www.aljazeera.com
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