Marinel Ubaldo: Rallying the People on the Frontlines of Climate Change 🇵🇭

According to a report published in 2019 by the Institute of Economics and Peace, the Philippines is the country most at risk from the climate crisis. One of the main factors that put the country most at risk is its geography. With millions of lives at stake from the devastating effects of the climate crisis, many youth climate activists across the Philippines have come together to raise their voice. Marinel Ubaldo is one of them.

Based in Tacloban City in the Philippines, Marinel is a climate activist and was a trained Child Facilitator and Youth Leader at Plan International, an organisation that aims to promote child and female rights. In this role, Marinel educated children and local groups about climate change, its effects, and ways to prevent it.

In 2013, she had a moment of realisation after seeing her community devastated by the effects of Typhoon Haiyan. “Typhoon Haiyan... was definitely exacerbated by climate change. I was really determined to do more because I didn’t want to be vulnerable for the rest of my life. I didn’t want other people to experience what we had experienced before... I didn’t even know myself if I would survive during the typhoon.” 

In 2015, Marinel was invited to speak at the opening of COP21 in Paris. There, she met inspiring young people who had been working towards climate action. Although there have been a few people who try to seed doubt in her mind by asking her if anything has been achieved through her work, she keeps herself motivated by the fact that many people still support the cause actively and looks to her many successes as proof of impact. Having spoken and led tens of events to bring youth together to resolve the climate crisis, she is by far one of the most impressive climate activists currently fighting the situation on the frontlines.

After seeing the Philippines on the frontline of facing the impacts of climate change and a government which was not so receptive towards climate action, Marinel became the youngest petitioner at the age of 18 to join the Climate Justice Liability Petition. The petition, which demanded that the carbon emissions of the 47 carbon majors in the Philippines be investigated, was submitted to the Commission of Human Rights. The aim was to hold these carbon majors responsible for the climate impacts and human rights violations linked to climate. It took four long years with hearings across the world, but in the end, they were successful in holding them responsible.

Marinel also partnered with the Mother Earth Foundation and Greenpeace for a brand audit to identify the top five plastic polluters in the region through coastal and community cleanups. The idea here was to hold these polluters responsible for the plastic waste they generate and get them to reduce their impact.

How do we make activism effective in Asia?

Marinel believes that activism is much more conservative in Asia as compared to the west where people are generally bolder and have the freedom to choose whatever activism they can do. While in many European countries, activists can meet the ministers to voice their opinions, in the Philippines, activists can be tagged as rebels or terrorists if they break socio-political norms. “We still have to be reserved [as activists] but we do our best to get more people involved... We were really challenged when [organizing] our first strike because people wanted to plant trees instead of rallying... they thought rallying wouldn’t solve anything. But rallying conveys what the people think and puts pressure on the government to do more. We have to convince [people] on the benefits of joining a rally. That’s a challenge but it’s worth it. Even asking for help from adults, we’re challenged. In Europe, you could approach some high-profile people; they’re normal people. Here in the Philippines, status is very big, it’s hard to fix the hierarchy” Apart from climate strikes on the streets, they also use radio broadcasts and other media to widen their reach.

Advice for Asian Environmentalists

Marinel advises other environmentalists to never underestimate the power of what you are doing. There will be many people who will discourage you — whenever you feel like giving up, always go back to your “Why?” and revisit why you began your advocacy journey.

Believe in what you’re doing and put your heart into it; don’t be afraid of speaking up & being who you are.

What should more people work on?

When asked what she thought more people should work on, she stated that climate change is a broad topic and the youth should advocate for whatever they feel passionate about. Every issue is important and you cannot assign more or less priority to any specific issue. Think about all of them simultaneously.

On the question of how to make yourself heard as a young person, Marinel responded that you need to speak up even if people don’t listen to you at first, because eventually you will be heard. “At first I was really hesitant to speak because I was just a girl from a very remote community in the Philippines. Who would ever listen to me? But then I started speaking up. And people listened. It doesn’t matter how large your audience is - one or two [people] or just your family - just keep making your point. What’s really important for me is humanizing climate science - a lot of people already do know the basics of climate change, but they don’t know what it feels like leaving [home] or experiencing a disaster exacerbated by climate change. People are more interested in those things.” Your experiences and stories deserve to be heard; if you are afraid to raise your voice, then you will not be heard.

Written by Nikhil Kamath