Greenpeace urges PBBM to demand fossil fuel companies pay for climate loss and damage

Greenpeace Philippines made a bold appeal to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr to hold climate polluters accountable during the sixth meeting of the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage (FRLD) Board at the Sheraton Cebu Mactan Resort. Activists held banners and staged a peaceful protest to call attention to the need for fossil fuel corporations to pay for the mounting cost of climate-related disasters.

President Marcos Jr played a key role in bringing the FRLD Board to the Philippines. The fund was created under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to assist nations most affected by the unavoidable consequences of climate change. Greenpeace now wants the president to use this platform to champion climate justice and pressure the world’s biggest polluters into funding recovery for vulnerable countries.

“President Marcos can demonstrate real climate leadership by going after the world’s biggest climate culprits,” said Greenpeace campaigner Jefferson Chua. “They must stop fossil fuel expansion and start paying for the cost of climate disasters.”

Activists display a banner calling on President Marcos Jr to demand payments from fossil fuel giants. [photo credit: Greenpeace/Victor Kintanar]

A call for accountability and bold policy actions

Greenpeace is urging the Philippine government to demand compensation from fossil fuel companies and high-emitting nations. The organization proposes the Climate Damages Tax and other financing mechanisms that ensure corporate accountability and direct financial support to climate-impacted communities.

Despite developing countries experiencing at least USD 400 billion in climate-related losses annually, donor nations have pledged only USD 700 million—a fraction of the need. Estimates project that by 2030, these losses could rise to USD 290–580 billion annually.

Greenpeace also highlighted that fossil fuel companies generated super-profits between 2000 and 2019—enough to cover the economic damage in 55 climate-vulnerable countries nearly 60 times over. Yet these companies have contributed little to no funding for loss and damage recovery.

“Thousands of Filipino communities are battered by supercharged storms yearly,” said John Michael Migriño, a Greenpeace volunteer and Super Typhoon Odette survivor. “Our people face repeated financial and emotional setbacks with no support from those who caused this crisis.”

Greenpeace’s demands to President Marcos Jr:

Demand fossil fuel companies and rich nations pay for climate loss and damage, including support for a Climate Damages Tax
Champion a global fossil fuel phaseout and reject any new oil and gas projects
Accelerate a just transition to clean energy for the Philippines
Pass and enact the Climate Accountability Bill
Begin legal action against major oil and gas firms for damages to Filipino communities

With the Philippines considered among the most vulnerable nations to climate change, Greenpeace says the country has both the moral authority and opportunity to lead the fight for global climate accountability.