Southeast Asia's moral call on climate action

Days before 30th Conference of the Parties (COP30) in Belém, Brazil, The Climate Reality Project Philippines hosted a self-organized dialogue on the Global Ethical Stocktake (GES).

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The gathering harnessed the voices of Southeast Asian leaders and their collective power for climate action.

Entitled “Connect, Care, Commit,” this event was also supported by Climate Reality Indonesia and AktivAsia. The initiative aimed to localize the GES by fostering a space of reflection among Southeast Asian advocates within the Climate Reality Project network.

“When we look back at the topic that we have now—Connect, Care, and Commit—it is really about understanding our roles, not just within ourselves, not just with others, not just within the country, but also across the region,” said Aimee Oliveros, interim branch manager of Climate Reality Philippines.

GES is a major official initiative launched by Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and UN Secretary António Guterres, operating under the trust of the COP30 Presidency.

Designed as a moral complement to the technical Global Stocktake of the Paris Agreement, the GES highlights the gap between knowing what must be done and the collective failure to act at the necessary pace and scale. It contends that the primary barrier to effective climate action is no longer a lack of technical solutions, but a deficit of ethical commitment and collective will.

“This initiative, supported by the COP30 Presidency, reminds us of the simple truth: The greatest barrier to solving the climate crisis is no longer technology—it is the lack of ethical will and collective determination,” said Dr. Amanda Katili Niode, director of Climate Reality Indonesia.