S-E Asia protesters at COP30 highlight regional vulnerability

The morning after 40 hours of travel, Filipina activist Ellenor Bartolome headed to the entrance of UN climate conference COP30 in the Amazonian city of Belem on Nov 13, fire in her belly.

- Ang Qing Correspondent

On Nov 10, her homeland was battered by the second typhoon in a week. Scientists have deemed such phenomena more likely and more damaging as a result of climate change.

"It gets worse every year, and for every disaster, it is utterly enraging that we are counting hundreds of bodies, hundreds of missing people... while the elite and the corporations are counting money from fossil fuels," the 25-year-old from Manila told the stream of participants entering the venue.

The issue of developing countries’ access to funding to prepare for the impacts of climate change, or climate adaptation, is a key focus of 2025's summit.

Countries from the Global South - the developing parts of the world, including Southeast Asia - are pressing developed countries to contribute more climate finance to help them adapt.

International public adaptation finance flows to developing countries totalled US$26 billion (S$33.8 billion) in 2023, down from US$28 billion the previous year, according to a UN report released in October. The same report found that the financing needs in developing countries for adaptation are 12 to 14 times greater than current flows.

At COP30, developing countries are advocating for an agreement on a new adaptation financing target, with some proposals calling for it to be tripled from 2022 levels.