Imagine this…

“Super Typhoon Haiyan is moving over the Philippines this weekend bringing with it winds close to 200 miles per hour…” – ABC World News

An elderly couple walk past rubble left by the damage caused by Typhoon Haiyan in Tacloban City. 

November 7, 2013, just like any other day, I wake up to the music of the Beatles playing on the stereo. My 60-year-old parents are avid fans, especially my mom, Thelma. I go out of my room to the dining table and find my father, Cesar, taking a sip of his morning coffee as he discusses current events with my elder brother, Julius. Being lawyers, their discussion eventually turns into a debate, and the only person who can pacify the situation is my nephew, Tarin who is calmly eating his breakfast - eggs, banana and sweet potato dipped in peanut butter - specially prepared by his dad: my eldest brother, Jonas.

I go to the kitchen and find my mom cooking champorado (rice mixed with cocoa) while dancing to the music of the Beatles. She glances at me with her wonderful smile and says, “Good morning baby!” Yes, at 22-years-old I am still her baby. I embrace her from behind and dance with her, as my sister-in-law, Geo, feeds me French toast that she’s prepared. It was a typical, happy Thursday morning for our family.

Exterior of the Tacloban Provincial Capitol building after Typhoon Haiyan hit on the 8th November.

Two days later, I am awakened by the strange howling of dogs. Eventually, the howling stops and my surroundings are filled with a deafening silence. I stand up; it is dark, cold and gloomy. No breakfast prepared on the table. No more Tatay (father) and Nanay (mother), no more Kuya Tata (older brother) and Ate Geo (older sister), no more Tarin. It is just me and my elder brother, Julius. All of a sudden the horrifying scenes of November 8, 2013, flashback.

When the wind and rain had stopped, when the surge had receded, when the typhoon had died down and left Leyte in catastrophic ruins, everyone thought the storm was over. Little did we know that the real storm - the struggle for those who were left behind - was just about to begin.

Police authorities distribute water in Tacloban City, Philippines. 

As my brother and I walked the streets of Tacloban, I looked at the city’s mountain range. I was surprised to see that the abundant greenery was now brown and dull; not a single tree survived the storm. Half the roads were blocked with piles of debris, the stench of death filled the humid Tacloban air, cadavers of humans and animals surrounded the city, and people looking like zombies were all over the streets walking with no clear direction. It was as if a sheet of cloth was forcibly pulled from underneath us and left the whole of Leyte Province devastated. All I wanted was to go home. All I wanted was to feel the comfort and security of my family. But where do you go when your home has been washed away? What do you do when your strongest support system - your family, whom you loved the most - is gone? Who do you hold on to? How do you move forward when the future seems to be a blur?

The authorities collect dead bodies, victims of the typhoon, near the Tacloban City Hall.

Three years. How long does it take for someone to move on from a tragic experience? I find myself often apologizing to people whenever I’m about to breakdown and cry, because I feel that after three years I should have moved on by now. But the truth is, I haven’t. How can I even start over when the last memory I have of my father was seeing him struggling to surface the water, gasping for air, as he was being swallowed under the deluge of Haiyan? How can I even sleep at night when the only thing I can think about is my mom, drowning in the floods because her own daughter failed to save her? How can I go on with my life when I promised my brother and his wife that I will do everything to find their son, but failed? How can I manage to let go of the memories when the idea of my nephew navigating the world without us, if he is still alive, breaks my heart? How can I even have the strength to wake up in the morning knowing that my family will never be complete again?

They say time heals. Well, maybe it applies to other people, but definitely not to me. As years pass, the reality of living without the people you love the most sinks in even more. I thought I could get used to reading the names of my parents, brother, sister-in-law, and nephew on paper intended for a mass offering for the dead. I thought I could get used to hearing their names during novena prayers for the dead. I thought I could get used to seeing their names engraved on a tombstone. I thought heartache fades through time, but it doesn’t.

On the eve of the Super Typhoon Haiyan's 3rd year anniversary, people from Tacloban light a candle that spells out "Climate Justice" to commemorate the devastating landfall three years ago. 

Since 2013, November has been a depressing month for all of us here in Leyte. Although we try to make it a solemn celebration of life and a humbling tribute to the world, concealed emotions of grief are dredged up as posters and video ads circulate all throughout the province announcing the commemoration of Haiyan’s anniversary. Memories of the super typhoon’s ferocious winds, cruel waves, and vicious rain come to mind...not that it has ever left. These days, the memories just become more vivid. I cannot help but look back on my life and think about how different things were back then. It has been three years since I was left with no choice but to let go of my mom’s lifeless body so I may live. Sometimes, I still ask myself if I had made the right decision or if it would have been better for me if I had just let myself drown, because living without my family just didn’t make sense. It’s always difficult to be the one left behind, you have to deal with all the questions, the grief, the pain, the regrets. You have to deal with the reality that no matter what you do, things will never be the same.

A year after the onslaught of Haiyan, Leyte was anticipating the landfall of Hagupit - another super typhoon. I can not articulate how exhausting it is to feel so helpless as I waited for the damage it would bring to my city. Then, I thought, is this it? Is this all we can do? To wait for another super typhoon to happen? Are we just going to record the casualties? The injured? The missing? Are we just going to wait for relief and aid from foreign countries every time we are met with catastrophes? Are we just going to rebuild and rehabilitate every time super typhoons such as Haiyan wreck our homes, buildings and livelihood?

I am done waiting. I do not want to see my whole world fall apart right before my eyes once again. And I could never bring myself to think about my children, and my children’s children bear the agony and trauma of what my family experienced. Homes, buildings, and livelihoods can always be rebuilt, but no amount of money can ever bring back the thousands of lives lost and the emotional turmoil caused by these dreaded calamities. We have already survived the worst, it is time we do more than just adapt and endure. Haiyan may have changed our lives, transformed our principles and altered our priorities, but we needed that change. Just like a caterpillar breaking out from its chrysalis, it endures the painful process to become a butterfly and achieve its beauty. We have to know that embracing our own metamorphosis can be extreme, but definitely worth the pain.

Tacloban City residents wait at the airport as they try to get a seat on outgoing C130 planes bound to Manila. Supplies have been scarce particularly water for the last four days and many are wanting to leave the city. 

It took three extreme, furious waves and raging winds to annihilate our homeland. It took more than 10,000 lives lost and over 14 million people displaced for the whole world to finally be able to put a human face on the climate crisis. For the longest time, climate change issues have always been about theoretical studies and scientific researches. But when Haiyan spread its fury and we were stripped of all that we had and everything that we were, it made us realize that the long-standing issue of climate change poses a major threat and has a price to pay, and it is not a small one. Haiyan is an example of what's to come. Climate change is not just statistics and numbers; it is already about us, the people.

The climate crisis is as real as a father who has worked all his life to provide for his family, only to wake up one day and realize his livelihood has been torn apart. It is as real as a mother bearing the agony of looking for her missing husband all day, and sleeping beside the dead bodies of her children at night. It is as real as a child who is looking forward to an education only to find out his school is damaged and he can not study anymore. The climate crisis is as real as the thousands of families who lost their homes and livelihood -- who until today are living in makeshift homes, struggling to make ends meet, with little to no food and clean water. It is as real as the thousands of victims who perished -- the accounted and the unaccounted. It is as real as the thousands of survivors who lost their families -- and with them, their dreams and ambitions. The climate crisis is as real as the Filipino who has been adapting to its effects all his life, but is now taking a stand to intervene and fight for his basic human right to a safe, clean, and healthy environment; the right to have a peaceful and quality life, with no fear or worry about the future adverse impacts of climate change.

On the eve of the typhoon haiyan third year anniversary, people from Tacloban light a candle that spells out "Climate Justice"

Haiyan was apocalyptic. It was the strongest typhoon ever recorded in history. Nevertheless, we Filipinos, known for our courage and resilience, were able to rise. Of course, with the whole world coming to our rescue and the adaptive nature embedded in the Filipino culture, we were able to push ourselves forward despite unprecedented circumstances. However, now the real question is: are we still going to wait for another Haiyan before we take action? I want people to be aware of the things happening on our side of the world and that the decisions we make today will also affect the choices of future generations. We only have one planet, one home; let us not take it for granted.

It is high time that we Filipinos be known not only for being victims of tragedies. We should prove to the world -- and more importantly to ourselves -- that although we were left with nothing but the trauma of wrecked homes, shattered livelihoods and death, our story does not end there. Every cut and dent signifies our struggle, every bruise and scar marks how we are reborn. The storm may have given us an inconceivable heartbreak, but it has refined us and it has given us the resiliency to continue our life’s story and make it a triumphant one.

Joanna Sustento, far left

Joanna Sustento, is at the forefront of Taclobanons trying to make sense of the Typhoon Haiyan tragedy and lending their voices to the call for climate justice. In 2013 she and her brother Julius lost their immediate family to the storm.

The Paris agreement has catapulted us all into a new reality. Governments have signed it, now they must act on it. And meanwhile, a global movement of people against fossil fuels is moving ahead - and you can be a part of it. We are the generation that ends fossil fuels!

Here are four ways people just like you are leading the charge towards a safer, greener and more peaceful future.

1. Typhoon survivors take on world’s biggest polluters

Typhoon survivors, advocates and NGOs (including Greenpeace Southeast Asia) in the Philippines made history last year when they lodged a legal complaint with the country’s Human Rights Commission (CHR). This triggered an investigation into the world’s biggest polluters’ failure to reduce carbon emissions and responsibility for increasing the risk of climate impacts and extreme weather events, such as super typhoon Haiyan, which killed thousands of people in the Philippines when it struck three years ago, on 8 November 2013.

Join the fight for climate justice here.

2. Young people sue Norwegian government over Arctic oil drilling

A girl points at an oil rig in an illustration for The People vs Arctic Oil

Greenpeace Nordic and Natur og Ungdom filed a lawsuit against the Norwegian government because new oil and gas drilling licenses in the Arctic contravene the Paris Agreement and violate the Norwegian constitutional right to a healthy environment for current and future generations.

The movement, featured on the website of the current Leonardo DiCaprio climate change film ‘Before the Flood’, has received pledges of solidarity everywhere and amassed over 90,000 signatures. 

Add yours here - the names of everyone who signs the petition will be submitted in court as evidence of the growing movement against Arctic oil.

3. Senior women’s lawsuit against the Swiss government for climate inaction

A group portrait of KlimaSeniorinnen (Senior Women for Climate Protection)

Just weeks ago in Switzerland, 459 women aged 65 and over launched a legal challenge to force the national government to take stronger action on climate change, as the wave of peoples’ demands for climate justice continues to roll around the world.

The KlimaSeniorinnen (Association of Senior Women for Climate Protection) complaint will proceed to court if the Swiss government fails to comply with the grandmothers’ demands.

Check out a video of the Swiss grannies’ awesome work here and support them here!

4. Indigenous Peoples fighting to uphold their rights at the Supreme Court of Canada

Elders, staff and local residents at Ilisaksivik community centre, in Clyde River, with Greenpeace guests.

In the Canadian Arctic, the stakes are high. In Kangiqtugaapik (Clyde River), in the far northern territory of Nunavut, Indigenous Peoples are taking a stand against the damaging practice of seismic blasting. The Inuit community of Clyde River was not properly consulted before the project was approved, which is a violation of their rights under Canada’s Constitution and the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People. Clyde River will have their case heard before the Supreme Court of Canada on 30 November.

This is not a case specifically concerning climate change, but it’s a part of growing resistance against one of the many dangerous practices of the oil industry.

Stand with them and tell PM Justin Trudeau to respect Indigenous rights and stop seismic blasting!

One woman's #SunUnitesUs photo

...and as a reward, here’s a bonus - not a legal case, but thousands of voices of unity from across 22 Arab World countries exulting clean solar power and peace.

From Morocco, the host nation for the UN climate conference taking place this week, all the way to Iraq, ordinary people are declaring that the Sun Unites Us in sun selfies, calling on decision-makers in the abundantly sunny region to commit to clean solar energy.

Leaders and political delegates at the conference will be faced with hundreds of those people’s #SunUnitesUs in a giant mosaic inside the COP.

It’s time for ambition. We are the generation that ends fossil fuels.

Tom Lowe is a Multimedia Editor at Greenpeace Internationl

It’s early in the morning on Friday 4 November and I am standing outside the United Nations in New York. A year ago, I was a relative newcomer to Greenpeace, preparing to attend the COP in Paris. The Greenpeace team was mobilising to push governments to adopt an ambitious international climate agreement.

Naomi Ages at work during the COP21 in Paris. 10/12/2015 © Christophe Calais / Signatures / Greenpeace

Fast-forward to 12 December 2015, when the team gathered in the media centre to watch country after country commit itself to the Paris Agreement, a remarkable step forward in international cooperation to tackle climate change. It was a moment of great hope and a moment where we knew we’d have to recommit ourselves to make sure action followed.

Which brings me back to Friday morning. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon convened a meeting of civil society organisations to thank us for our work in making the Paris Agreement happen, and to ask us how we’re bringing it to life. On behalf of the International Executive Directors and the entire Greenpeace organisation, I highlighted that some of the work Greenpeace does around the world to make sure that Paris is not just “words on paper”, as the Secretary-General warned.

What was I thinking, other than ‘don’t mess up this important moment’? I was thinking of the work the global Greenpeace organisation has done, for years, well before Paris, to make this possible. I was thinking of my colleagues foregoing food and sleep in Paris to ensure the Agreement called for 1.5 degrees. I was thinking of Joanna Susteno from Tacloban, whose life has already been upended by climate change, and the work we need to do to bring justice to the people who have contributed the least to climate change.

People were at the centre of the message I brought to the UN this morning. People who believe that we want a different future, and are working to create it. There is an unstoppable global movement to keep fossil fuels in the ground. There is a wave of climate justice legal actions unfolding because people are demanding climate leadership from corporations and governments. And there is also optimism that a 100% renewable energy future is possible.

Greenpeace’s ship Rainbow Warrior is in Morocco right now, at the conclusion of her Sun Unites Us Tour, highlighting solar energy’s immense potential. Greenpeace, along with civil society, will continue to show up to support this people-powered vision for a better world, because Paris was only the beginning. The hard work is ongoing, and it can’t happen quickly enough.

Since COP22 is happening right now, why not submit your photo to the Sun Unites Us website and be a part of the #sununitesus mosaic Greenpeace is building!

Naomi Ages is a climate liability campaigner with Greenpeace US

Samsung is at a cross-roads. In the aftermath of the Galaxy Note7 fiasco the tech giant has admitted they need a fresh start. However, this doesn't just have to be a fresh start to advertise a new Galaxy S8, it could also represent a fresh start for the consumers and the planet.

Millions of Samsung Galaxy Note7 are being recalled. Greenpeace East Asia asks Samsung not to dump or burn their recalled flagship smartphones and demands the company to be transparent, and officially release their disposal plan for the defected Galaxy Note7.

Earlier this week Greenpeace revealed the waste that could be generated if Samsung does not reuse components from the 4.3 million faulty Galaxy Note7 phones it produced. Tonnes of cobalt, gold, silver, tungsten and more that could be lost if not dealt with properly. Thousands of people around the world spoke up to call for Samsung to act, while governments from Hong Kong to Korea expressed their concerns. Samsung didn't stay quiet for long and yesterday sent a response to media "recognizing the concerns" and "reviewing possible options that can minimise the environmental impact of the recall."

The opportunity in crisis

But this isn't just about "minimising the impact" or "complying with regulations", it is about having the vision and the leadership to see the opportunity in this crisis. Will Samsung choose to go back to the industry norm: wasteful, short-lasting irreparable gadgets, or use this huge moment to create the next Galaxy, charting a new path for truly innovative devices made to last, be repairable and composed of recycled material?

Walk the talk

Reading Samsung's website suggests a radically different company than the one we see, a leader of the "the circular economy" or an explorer pushing the boundaries of how to "reuse waste products". However, Samsung now has the chance to walk the talk and make their paper promises a reality, showing their competitors they can be different in a way that matters, different on behalf of our future and our planet.

A group of volunteers takes a smartphone repair class at the Greenpeace Mexico office given by a local repair group, Fix Friends.

Actions speaking louder than words

So far all we have heard are meaningless statements and no action. Greenpeace is demanding transparency on their plans for 4.3 million phones and, together with thousands around the world, we can urge the company to take this opportunity to rethink how they design, make, collect and reuse their products and the precious materials they contain.

Add your voice and let's convince Samsung not to simply destroy 4.3 million phones.

Jude Lee is the Senior IT Campaigner at Greenpeace East Asia.

Jennifer L Morgan is an Executive Director at Greenpeace International. This article was first published in the Huffington Post.

Learn more about Greenpeace expectations for the upcoming COP22 climate conference in Morocco here.

As negotiators prepare for the upcoming climate summit next week, some of the world’s leading scientists are reminding them – and us – of what we already knew: that we will not prevent climate chaos if we simply rely on the pledges made in the Paris Agreement.

The latest report from the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) says climate action must start now. And the pledges given by countries in Paris must be made much more ambitious before 2020. If we wait even a few years for a review of these pledges, the small chance we have of limiting temperature rise to 1.5C will be lost.

That temperature limit is the goal of the Paris Agreement – a temperature rise well below 2C and aiming for 1.5C.

Even the smaller rise would have climate impacts, though they would be less serious than the more-intense storms, longer droughts and sea-level rise that a 2C temperature rise would bring.

So it is essential that all countries both improve their existing climate pledges for 2025 and 2030, and accelerate emissions cuts in the immediate future.

This is something that cannot wait. If action is delayed for another 10 years or so, it will be too late. We will have locked ourselves onto a path leading to dangerous levels of warming.

Taking action now to stop this happening is possible. As UNEP points out, many of the climate actions of the big economies are based on modest changes, business as usual scenarios – or even worse than business as usual scenarios. So countries have not over-reached themselves – far from it. They can, and must, do better.

Greater action on energy efficiency alone could bridge much of the gap and would come with immediate benefits for people, like lower energy bills and warmer homes.

As negotiators prepare to travel to Morocco for the climate summit which will start turning the Paris Agreement from promises to action, they will need to face this challenge head on.

And that means agreeing further measures for action now, as well as a plan for improving countries’ current 2025 and 2030 targets.

The next few years are critical. They are the years when we can choose between climate stability and climate chaos. This is our only chance. It must not be wasted. The world is ready and waiting for this change.

Kaisa Kosonen is the head of climate policy based at Greenpeace Nordic.