Doubling finance for climate adaptation is one of the key outcomes at COP28. But the question remains about whether these funds will find their way to Mekong communities on the climate frontline, especially with the region’s limited freedoms hindering effective and just climate solutions.
Representing the challenges faced by the Indigenous Karen people in Thailand, Pirawan Wongnithisathaporm arrived at COP28 in Dubai with a call for world leaders to recognize the voices of Indigenous and marginalized peoples in climate negotiations.
Originally from the country’s northern Chiang Mai province, she has witnessed her community dealing with worsening climate impacts. Her community also plays a critical role in protecting forests that strengthen climate resilience and sequester carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas warming the atmosphere.
This is a summary. Read the full article on Mekong Eye.
The story was produced as part of the COP28 Climate Change Media Partnership Reporting Fellowship co-organized by the Internews’ Earth Journalism Network and the Stanley Center for Peace and Security. It was originally published in Mekong Eye on December 11, 2023.
Smanachan Buddhajak contributed to the reporting of this story.
Banner image: After their houses were submerged, villagers moved their belongings by boat during the historically high floods of 2020 in Vietnam’s Quang Binh province / Credit: Nguyen Dac Thanh for Mekong Eye.
Paritta Wangkiat
