BRUSSELS: Young activists rallied for climate action on Friday (Sep 23), staging protests from New Zealand and Japan to Germany and the Democratic Republic of Congo to demand that rich countries pay for the damage that global warming is inflicting upon the poor.

The protests take place six weeks before this year’s UN climate summit, known as COP27, where vulnerable countries plan to push for compensation for climate-related destruction to homes, infrastructure and livelihoods.

Demonstrations were planned in around 450 locations worldwide by youth movement Fridays for Future. They are timed to coincide with global leaders meeting in New York City at the UN General Assembly.

“One day, it could be my house that gets flooded,” said 15-year-old Park Chae-yun, one of around 200 protesting in Seoul, South Korea. “I’m living with a sense of crisis, so I think it is more important to deliver my concerns to the government to take preventive measures rather than going to school.”

A protester who gave their name as Meta had the same worry in Indonesia: “If Jakarta is flooded, everyone who has money can leave. Where do I go? I will drown here in Jakarta.”

Around 400 young activists gathered in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s capital Kinshasa, chanting slogans such as “Act for Africa, protect our planet” and carrying cardboard signs reading “Climate Justice” and “Climate SOS” while walking on the shoulder of a busy thoroughfare.

Escalating and irreparable damage caused by climate change has heightened developing country demands for “Loss & Damage” compensation to be addressed at COP27 in Egypt in November.

Unions in another coalition, called Gebrak, also demonstrated on Sep 13 and are planning more protests. The leading union in this coalition of labour, students and civil society groups is the Congress of Indonesian Trade Union Alliances (KASBI), which is not affiliated with the Labour Party.

The Gebrak alliance, which includes other smaller unions as well as student and human rights groups, has been a significant actor in civil society protests against government policies such as the Jobs Creation (Omnibus) Law, especially in Jakarta.

On Sep 13, they called for, among other things, the cancellation of the fuel price increases, the repeal of the Omnibus Law and rejected the revisions proposed to the new Criminal Code.

MORE UNREST WILL ENSUE

There have been public protests about rising fuel prices almost every time they have been made, including during the Yudhohyono government. This time, however, the opposition arrayed against the government on the issue has more political buckshot. The continuing demonstrations number up to 10 in Jakarta on a single day.

This time actors in the mainstream, such as the Demokrat Party, the PKS and the Labour Party, are also articulating oppositional rhetoric, however opportunistic that may be. There is also the potential for serious disruption of public transportation through demonstrations by ride-hailing drivers, who now number around 3 million.

The government hopes to dampen the unrest. It has promised cash payments of 600,000 rupiah to low-income citizens. More tellingly, the government backtracked almost immediately when on Apr 13, it announced that rationing of Pertalite will be delayed while the government “makes studies”. The Minister for Labour Affairs has also called for wages to be increased.

But it will be a tall order for the government to ride through the current storm, particularly if civil society demonstrations continue while some mainstream actors sustain their opposition rhetoric. With inflation rising, more political unrest will ensue, which will in turn destabilise preparations for the 2024 elections.

Granted, the current unrest remains fragmented and without political leadership. But if left uncontrolled, the government will have its hands full trying to bring the political temperature down.

Max Lane is Visiting Senior Fellow at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute. This commentary first appeared on the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute’s blog, Fulcrum.

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka police fired tear gas and water cannon on a small protest on Thursday (Aug 18) to break up the first demonstration since the crisis-hit island nation lifted a state of emergency.

An unprecedented economic collapse has sparked often huge anti-government rallies this year after months of hardship caused by shortages of essential goods, rolling blackouts and spiralling inflation.

The government has curbed dissent by imposing a state of emergency giving security forces sweeping detention powers, but the ordinance lapsed overnight.