Asian Women's Quilt on Climate Change: Climate Talks for People's Needs, Not Corporate Greed!

1 October 2009
Bangkok, Thailand
PRESS STATEMENT

Threading together the calls for climate justice of Asian women and
grassroots organizations

We, women, environmental, indigenous people's and women’s rights
organizations from Mongolia, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand and
other Asian countries today unite by unfurling a giant collaborative quilt
on the impacts of global warming on Asian communities and the people's
responses to these problems in front of the United Nations ESCAP building
for the ongoing United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
intersessional meeting.

Quilts are cultural symbols of unity, creativity and diversity. This
collective work threads through testimonies and sews together stories of how
global warming is negatively affecting the lives of the most marginalized
sectors within Asia's poorest countries. It is a work of solidarity by the
sectors who feel the various ecological and economic effects of climate
change firsthand and who stand for climate justice, accountability, and the
people's needs.

Asian grassroots women are now calling for action on climate change and its
impacts. The colorful images and symbols in the quilt aim to articulate the
following points:

- Climate change and global warming will impact more gravely and harshly on
the lives of the marginalized and poor sectors. Millions of poor Asian
farmers, fisherfolk, indigenous peoples, especially women and children and
all those who are directly dependent on our environment and natural
resources for their livelihood are the most vulnerable to the impacts of
extreme weather events, climate-related natural disasters, rising sea
levels, rise of climate-sensitive diseases and the like. Women should be
foremost supported in terms of capacity-building, technological support,
climate change awareness and access to basic social services such as
education and health.

- Deep and drastic cuts by the largest greenhouse gas emitters are needed
now. Accountability to pay for past emissions and reduce future ones must be
demanded from Annex I countries and especially the United States, the single
largest country emitter of greenhouse gases. Their time of procrastination,
profit-taking at the expense of the environment and the people, and evasion
of global responsibilities to cut emissions is coming to an end. Action to
ensure clean and clear cuts must be pursued now.

- The people's needs, not corporate greed, should be the focus of the
ongoing UN climate talks: We urge the UN negotiators and government
delegations to heed the Asian grassroots calls for climate justice and
people's welfare above elite corporate interests in the ongoing climate
negotiations. Focus should be redirected away from corporate greenwashing
and false solutions and steered towards protecting the people's needs and
welfare, especially women’s human rights, reducing existing vulnerabilities
from the local to the regional levels, and reviewing and repealing policies,
frameworks and programs which contribute to the cumulative effect of
reducing people's and women’s capacity to adapt to climate change impacts.

*About the Project*

The Asian Women's Quilt on Climate Change project is a giant collaborative
quilt on the calls of Asian grassroots women affected by climate change,
aiming to visually present the stories and symbols of the people most
affected by the serious impacts of climate change – the grassroots sectors
in Asia.

The quilt hopes to contribute to the global efforts to craft strategies for
the people's engagement in the issue using traditional and new media: the
handmade quilt is to be made globally accessible through a web-based
gallery.

The quilt project was spearheaded by the Center for Environmental
Concerns-Philippines (CEC-Phils), Sustainable Development Foundation (SDF)
of Thailand, Philippine Climate Watch Alliance (PCWA) and the Asia Pacific
Forum on Women, Law and Development (APWLD).

It is among the activities comprising the People's Action on Climate Change
(PACC), a week-long series of events by Asian grassroots organizations
calling for accountability, climate justice and people's needs over
imperialist and corporate greed.

Reference:

Meggie Nolasco, spokesperson, PCWA
Tomoko Kashiwazaki, Programme Officer, APWLD

Meggie Nolasco
Kalikasan People's Network for the Environment
No.26 Matulungin St. Bgy. Central, Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines 1100
Tel. No. +63-2-9248756
Fax No. +63-2-9209099
Email: kalikasan.pne@gmail.com
Website: www.kalikasan.org

Tomoko Kashiwazaki

Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development (APWLD)
Girl Guides Association Compound
189/3 Changklan Road, Amphoe Muang
Chiangmai 50100 Thailand
Tel: +66 (0)53 284527, 284856
Fax: +66 (0)53 280847