Filipina youth activist brings fight for climate finance justice to COP27

Filipina youth activist brings fight for climate finance justice to COP27

A fierce defender of climate voices from the world's developing countries, Mitzi Jonelle Tan has brought her call for climate justice to the COP27 summit in Egypt.

It is the same fight she takes up daily in her native Philippines, where such activism can be dangerous work.

The 25-year-old sees first-hand the impacts of climate change on her homeland.

Tan's home city, Marikina, is regularly buffeted by typhoons and Manila, the capital, is threatened by rising sea levels. The acidification of the world's oceans could ruin the livelihood of millions of fishermen across the archipelagic nation.

But she also witnesses the repression of those struggling to push environmental causes, saying she was "illegally detained" when protesting against Filipino mining interests in 2018.

"The Philippines is one of the most dangerous countries in the world for environmental defenders and activists," Tan told AFP, peering through her signature round glasses.

"In the past 10 years, at least 270 defenders were killed," she added.

The British human rights group Global Witness estimates that of 200 environmental defenders killed worldwide in 2021, 19 lived in the Philippines.

"This is what happens when you threaten business as usual," Tan said, listing off on her ringed fingers the interests of "multinational companies, mining companies,