Filipino Youth to U.S. Government: Honor Climate Commitments, Fund Justice Not Fossil Fuels

To the President of the United States, Members of the U.S. Congress, U.S. Department of State, U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate:

We write to you from the Philippines – one of the most climate-vulnerable countries in the world – to demand that the United States take responsibility for its outsized role in the climate crisis and act with urgency, fairness, and integrity.

While communities across Asia struggle with the devastating impacts of typhoons, floods, and rising seas, U.S. climate action has too often fallen short, or moved in the wrong direction. Under previous administrations, the United States withdrew from the Paris Agreement, expanded fossil fuel production, and blocked access to renewable energy through unjust trade barriers. These choices have pushed vulnerable nations like ours closer to climate catastrophe.

This is not just a failure of policy – it is a betrayal of justice.

As youth from the Philippines, we are working to build real solutions. In Manila, over 30 recent high school graduates are studying to become Future Renewable Energy Engineers through a four-year scholarship program. These young climate leaders are creating the future we need, despite facing systems rigged against them.

We call on the United States to meet its climate obligations, not with words, but with action.

We demand that the U.S. government:

1. Fully return to the Paris Agreement and honor its commitments.
   Re-engage with international climate goals in good faith and restore credibility by aligning domestic and foreign policy with the 1.5°C pathway.
   
   
2. End all public and private financing for fossil fuel projects, globally.
   Stop exporting destruction and instead champion a just energy transition that uplifts people – not polluters.
   
   
3. Deliver climate finance as grants, not loans.
   Fulfill and exceed your share of the $100 billion climate finance commitment, with dedicated funding for adaptation, loss and damage, and just transition – especially for countries most affected by climate impacts.
   
   
4. Remove trade barriers that drive up the cost of renewable energy.
   Climate solutions must be affordable and accessible to all. U.S. trade policy must support, not hinder, a global energy transition.
   
   
5. Support democratic, community-led climate action.
   Work in partnership with frontline nations and youth movements, not impose top-down solutions that reproduce inequality.
   
   

The climate crisis is global, but its burdens are not equally shared. The United States, as the world’s largest historical emitter, has a moral and political responsibility to act – not just for its own future, but for the future of generations everywhere.

We urge you to listen – to the science, to your commitments, and to the voices of those on the frontlines. Our futures are intertwined. Your choices matter.

It’s time to stop financing destruction and start funding justice.

Sincerely,