APEC LEADERS URGED TO STOP TRADING AWAY CLIMATE FUTURE

Climate Activists’ Petition Delivery to Urge Stronger Climate Leadership from the U.S. & Other APEC Nations

San Francisco, Calif. — Days before President Biden and other heads of state gather for the Asia Pacific Economic Forum (APEC) Leaders Summit in San Francisco, Bay Area climate activists are delivering over 15,000 petition signatures demanding that world leaders to do more to address the climate crisis.

“Younger generations are scared for our future. We’re angry that instead of the bold climate action needed for our survival, all too often what we get from government leaders is tepid lip service about the growing crisis. We’re calling for any Asia-Pacific trade deal announced in San Francisco this month to include strong mechanisms that help end climate pollution, globalize climate justice and stop trade attacks on climate action,” said Will Wiltschko, coordinator of Bay Climate Action, an ad-hoc coalition formed by the California Trade Justice Coalition of over 60 local and national environmental organizations, which led the petition delivery.

Groups pointed to expected announcements on the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) trade agreement during the APEC Leaders Summit as an opportunity to take meaningful action on climate change, but said that IPEF texts released to date fail to take the climate criss seriously.

“The only IPEF pillar that has been published to date — the one ostensibly written to improve global supply chain resiliency — fails to even mention the term ‘climate change.’ While attempting to make cross-border trade easier for transnational corporations, the proposal also contains zero environmental standards whatsoever. This reeks of climate denialism and is completely unacceptable,” said Wiltschko.

Carrying banners reading “APEC Leaders: Stop Trading Away Our Climate Future,” climate activists will deliver multiple climate-related petitions this Thursday at the site of the final round of ongoing IPEF negotiations before the APEC summit. Common petition demands include those calling to:

End Climate Pollution. The United States must reverse its disproportionate role in creating the climate crisis by no longer propping up the fossil fuel industry, rapidly zeroing out greenhouse gas emissions and helping other countries do the same.

Globalize Climate Justice. The United States and all members of APEC must commit to climate justice for communities of color and take action to end the disproportionate impact climate change has on communities of color in their own nations and globally.

Stop Trade Attacks on Climate Action. The United States and all members of APEC must end corporate-driven trade agreements that greenwash, weaken and delay the transition to a just and clean economy, and must commit to a Climate Peace Clause immediately ending trade attacks on climate action.

“We need world leaders to get serious about the climate crisis,” said Wiltschko. “Insofar as they announce an IPEF trade deal that helps sets rules governing 40% of the global economy, we need real climate action to be front-and-center. The young people represented here don’t have time to waste.”

Endorsers of the Bay Climate Action demands include the Oil & Gas Action Network, Friends of the Earth U.S., Extinction Rebellion SF Bay Area, Asian Pacific Environmental Network, Rising Tide North America, 350.org, Youth Vs. Apocalypse, 1000 Grandmothers for Future Generations, Alliance of South Asians Taking Action, Brown & Green, Local Clean Energy Alliance, Climate Defenders, Students of Color Environmental Collective, SF Bay Idle No More, Sunflower Alliance, Oil Change International, Our Revolution East Bay and others.

Press coverage:
https://abc7news.com/apec-san-francisco-protest-climate-change/14036524/
https://abc7chicago.com/apec-summit-san-francisco-us-secretary-janet-yellen-chinese-vice-premier-he-lifeng/14035409/
https://www.publicnewsservice.org/2023-11-09/climate-change/activists-petition-world-leaders-for-climate-action-at-ca-trade-summit/a87163-2