Ecology & Social Justice

To reduce greenhouse gas emissions, Thailand, like many countries, has developed various approaches to mitigate the climate crisis. One approach is forest-based offsets, which are seen as effective and may provide income for communities. This paper argues that due to the market-based orientation of such projects, these may have the potential for abuse and endanger community rights and justice, particularly for those whose livelihoods depend on the forests.

Located at the tip of the Philippines, and approximately 118 miles from Taiwan, with almost identical weather, the Ivatans of Batanes have learned to adapt their ways of life while inhabiting the most typhoon-prone islands in the country. 

Our two stories in this issue explore creative ways of widening the conversation around the climate crisis – one about board games that provide spaces, quite serious ones, for talking about how to live in our climate-changed world, and another on using effective language to involve the Deaf community.

Amidst wider understanding on the need for urgent and decisive action in order to avert the worst of the climate crisis, there is a nascent global and intersectoral approach for the creation of policies to address climate change that goes beyond just the state-led international negotiations, which has become prominent in the last two decades. 

A female waste picker’s simple dream is, in its own way, part of a much bigger plan toward a plastic-free future for Vietnam. 

While there are more ways for the Deaf to access news and information today, the communication barriers they faced three decades ago remain. These persist at a time when a warming planet is causing extreme weather events, such as typhoons, to get stronger and cause more destruction – but basic public information about disasters do not reach the Deaf community effectively. Many among them also lack knowledge about the climate crisis.

In a coastal city in the Philippines, poor families in the urban margins participate in the efforts to stem the effects of climate change, yet they are still likely to bear its worst effects. This piece explains why “segregation at source” measures that target households is not enough to stem the tide of plastic wastes. 

Despite warnings that Typhoon Yagi would be a superstorm, its aftermath left devastation beyond what Vietnam could have imagined, offering a costly lesson in responding to natural disasters.

Thirty Indigenous women and youth representatives from nine countries across Asia gathered at the Regional Conference on a Just and Sustainable Energy Transition held from September 20- 22, 2024.