Lidy Nacpil is a Filipino human rights, environmental, gender and social justice activist. She is the coordinator of the Asian Peoples' Movement on Debt and Development, also known as Jubilee South, an international advocacy organization focused on climate justice. [1] [2]
Nacpil began her activism when she was a student. Her first husband Lean Alejandro was killed in 1987 during the martial rule of President Cory Aquino. [3] In the Peace Network developed by the Leandro L. Alejandro Foundation after his death, Nacpil had a major role in its work after Fidel V. Ramos became president. [3]
After the killing of her husband, Nacpil intensified her human, economic and social justice activism. [4] In 1999, as part of the Jubilee 2000 coalition and on behalf of the Freedom from Debt Coalition, she advocated for debt relief from the World Bank and IMF for the most impoverished countries in the world. [5] In 2001, she traveled on behalf of Jubilee South to conduct teach-ins in New York and Washington, and to Canada to promote activist events at G20, World Bank, and IMF meetings. [6] In 2009, while a Jubilee South coordinator, she spoke with Naomi Klein about the climate debt proposal, for countries creating the climate crisis to pay for the impacts on other countries, telling Klein it is "something that is owed to us, because we are dealing with a crisis not of our making" and "Climate debt is not a matter of charity." [7]
She has held executive positions in national, regional and global rights groups. [8] She is the coordinator of the Asian Peoples' Movement on Debt and Development, [9] [10] [11] which organizes dozens of member organizations and is based in Manila. [12] Her COP27 briefing in November 2022 with Thuli Makama from the Asian Peoples' Movement on Debt and Development focused on the benefits of ending fossil fuel subsidies and increasing taxes on oil and gas production. [13]
She is also co-coordinator of the Global Campaign to Demand Climate Justice, and vice president of the Freedom from Debt Coalition and co-coordinator of the Global Campaign to Demand Climate Justice. [14] [15] She has also served as a board observer for the Green Climate Fund. [16]
Naomi Klein is a Canadian author, social activist, and filmmaker known for her political analyses; support of ecofeminism, organized labour, and criticism of corporate globalization, fascism and capitalism. In 2021, Klein took up the UBC Professorship in Climate Justice, joining the University of British Columbia's Department of Geography. She has been the co-director of the newly launched Centre for Climate Justice since 2021.
Youth activism is the participation in community organizing for social change by persons between the ages of 15–24. Youth activism has led to a shift in political participation and activism. A notable shift within youth activism is the rise of “Alter-Activism” resulting in an emphasis on lived experiences and connectivity amongst young activists. The young activists have taken lead roles in public protest and advocacy around many issues like climate change, abortion rights and gun violence.
Jubilee 2000 was an international coalition movement in over 40 countries that called for cancellation of third world debt by the year 2000. This movement coincided with the Great Jubilee, the celebration of the year 2000 in the Catholic Church. The campaign has been generally hailed as very successful. As planned, the Jubilee 2000 Coalition dissolved at the end of the millennium year but left a legacy of organisations around the world.
The Intergovernmental Group of Twenty-Four on International Monetary Affairs and Development, or The Group of 24 (G-24) was established in 1971 as a chapter of the Group of 77 in order to help coordinate the positions of developing countries on international monetary and development finance issues, as well as and to ensure that their interests are adequately represented in negotiations on international monetary matters. Though originally named after the number of founding Member States, it now has 28 Members. Although the G-24 officially has 28 member countries, any member of the G-77 can join discussions.
Today, environmental problems in the Philippines include pollution, mining and logging, deforestation, threats to environmental activists, dynamite fishing, landslides, coastal erosion, biodiversity loss, extinction, global warming and climate change. Due to the paucity of extant documents, a complete history of land use in the archipelago remains unwritten. However, relevant data shows destructive land use increased significantly in the eighteenth century when Spanish colonialism enhanced its extraction of the archipelago's resources for the early modern global market. The Philippines is projected to be one of the most vulnerable countries to the impacts of climate change, which would exacerbate weather extremes. As the Philippines lies on the Pacific Ring of Fire, it is prone to natural disasters, like earthquakes, typhoons, and volcanic eruptions. In 2021, the Philippines ranked the fourth most affected country from "weather-related loss events", partly due to the close proximity of major infrastructure and residential areas to the coast and unreliable government support. One of the most devastating typhoons to hit the archipelago was Typhoon Haiyan, known locally as Yolanda, in 2013 that killed 6,300 people and left 28,689 injured. Congress passed the Clean Air Act of 1999, the Philippine Clean Water Act of 2004, the Climate Change Act of 2009 to address environmental issues. The country is also a signatory to the Paris Agreement. However, research has found that outside of cities, the general public doesn't feel equally informed. Environmental activists and land defenders, consisting mostly of Indigenous communities who have been attempting to bring attention to the environmental issues in the country have been met with violence or murder. As a result, the Philippines has been ranked one of the most dangerous places in the world for environmental activists. It also has one of the highest percentages of climate change denialists in the world.
Debt Justice is a UK-based campaigning organisation which exists to end injustice in relation to developing countries' debt and the poverty and inequality it perpetuates. The organisation’s activities include campaigning, advocacy, community organising and activism and aims to build collective power with people most affected by debt to demand a fair economy for all.
The Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP) is a network of over 11,000 civil society organizations (CSOs) dedicated to social justice, established in 2005 during the World Social Forum in Porto Allegre. It represents approximately 58 national groups. It serves as a platform for individuals and organizations to unite against systemic factors perpetuating poverty and inequalities.
David Woodward is a British economist and economic advisor.
Christine Madeleine Odette Lagarde is a French politician and lawyer who has been the President of the European Central Bank since 2019. She previously served as the 11th Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) from 2011 to 2019. Lagarde had also served in the Government of France, most prominently as Minister of the Economy, Finance and Industry from 2007 until 2011. She is the first woman to hold each of those posts.
Ann Pettifor is a British economist who advises governments and organisations. She has published several books. Her work focuses on the global financial system, sovereign debt restructuring, international finance and sustainable development. Pettifor is best known for correctly predicting the financial crisis of 2007–08. She was one of the leaders of the Jubilee 2000 debt cancellation campaign.
Leandro "Lean" Legara Alejandro was a student leader and left-wing nationalist political activist in the Philippines.
Kristalina Ivanova Georgieva-Kinova is a Bulgarian economist serving as the 12th managing director of the International Monetary Fund since 2019, and the first person from an emerging market economy to lead the institution. Born in Sofia, her university education was at London School of Economics (LSE), followed by a return to her native Bulgaria where she witnessed some of the economic hardships of the post-Communist transition. She began her career by teaching economics, becoming a prominent figure in the field.
The Halifax Initiative is a coalition of Canadian non-governmental organizations for public interest work and education on international financial institutions. Canadian non-governmental organizations formed the Halifax Initiative in December 1994 to ensure that demands for fundamental reform of the international financial institutions would be high on the agenda of the upcoming June 1995 Group of 7 meeting in Halifax. The Halifax Initiative is a coalition of development, environment, faith-based, human rights and labour groups.
The anti-globalization movement, or counter-globalization movement, is a social movement critical of economic globalization. The movement is also commonly referred to as the global justice movement, alter-globalization movement, anti-globalist movement, anti-corporate globalization movement, or movement against neoliberal globalization. There are many definitions of anti-globalization.
Jubilee USA Network is a nonprofit financial reform organization based in Washington, D.C. Jubilee USA's work began in conjunction with the global Jubilee 2000 movement, founded in the late 1990s to advocate for debt relief for developing countries. It is "an alliance of more than 75 U.S. organizations, 650 faith communities and 50 Jubilee global partners."
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development. The World Bank is the collective name for the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and International Development Association (IDA), two of five international organizations owned by the World Bank Group. It was established along with the International Monetary Fund at the 1944 Bretton Woods Conference. After a slow start, its first loan was to France in 1947. In its early years, it primarily focused on rebuilding Europe. Over time, it focused on providing loans to developing world countries. In the 1970s, the World Bank re-conceptualized its mission of facilitating development as being oriented around poverty reduction. For the last 30 years, it has included NGOs and environmental groups in its loan portfolio. Its loan strategy is influenced by environmental and social safeguards.
Advocates of Science and Technology for the People, or simply Agham, is a non-governmental science advocacy organization based in the Philippines. Founded in 1999 by professors and students of the University of the Philippines Diliman, the group focuses its campaigns and community service in the areas of food security, public utilities, environment, national industrialization, science education, and the welfare of scientists in the country.
Future Coalition is an American nonprofit organization resourcing movement-building solutions led by and for young people addressing the needs of their communities.
Katie Eder is an American climate and social justice organizer. Katie co-founded the Future Coalition in 2018, and served as the organization's Executive Director for the first four years of its operations. In that role, Katie coordinated the 2019 and 2020 US Climate Strike Coalition.
Sarah Jane Ibañez Elago is a Filipino activist and politician. She was a member of the Philippine House of Representatives for its 17th and 18th Congress, both times representing the youth sector under Kabataan Party-list. Before entering Congress, she was also the national president of the National Union of Students in the Philippines. As of May 2019, she was the youngest female lawmaker in the Philippines.